crazy diamond years
by poetic star
Summary: Kurt and Blaine used to be childhood friends, until adolescence hit and they drifted apart. Now it's 1973 and the world is thrown into a storm of political upheaval, societal changes and sexual freedom. Kurt and Blaine cross paths again, and this time the emotions they had spent years trying to stifle, are now harder to ignore.
1. Chapter 1

so..this is an Anderberry fic :P lol I just think those two make such a cute pair and it's set in the 70s, as you can see from the summary. The historical content won't be perfect so please don't give me a hard time about that since this is merely fanfiction, after all, but I will do my best to get all of my facts accurate about that time period and how it affected the gay community. The inspiration came from watching the movie "Milk". I hope you guys enjoy.

Glee does not belong to me.

* * *

"_We don't notice any time pass, _

_we don't notice anything._

_We sit side by side in every class._

_Teacher thinks that I sound funny _

_But she likes the way you sing."_

_- "We're going to be friends", The White Stripes_

_Ohio, 1966_

A shiny red dodge ball engulfed Kurt Hummel's field of vision, making him squeak as he realized that the object was in dangerous proximity to his rosy cheeks and delicately upturned nose. He hated all sports that involved getting hit and he especially detested this one, which reminded him of modern day stoning. Before Kurt could lift his hands to block the hard object's advance on, however, it was thrown off course by another pair of hands, forming a locked fist and bumping the ball away from Kurt's face.

Kurt turned and caught sight of his friend, Blaine moving beside him on the court, swiftly blocking the balls fired their way by the opposing team.

Kurt managed a tiny smile in Blaine's direction. Even though he was grateful, he was also embarrassed that Blaine was always protecting him during these physical activities where Blaine excelled and Kurt.. Well, didn't. He was sure that the other kids thought he was a "sissy" and that irritated Kurt to no end. But at the same time, he was thankful that at least, Blaine never called him that and seemed genuinely happy about coming to his rescue.

"Okay, kids, that's enough for today!" the P.E teacher, Coach Ryder shouted before blowing a whistle that hung around his thick fleshy neck. All the fourth-graders ran up to him and placed the dodge balls in a metal cart the teacher had wheeled in.

Kurt rubbed a sheen of sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm and went to find Blaine.

The boys followed the other ten-year olds as they filed out of the stinky gymnasium towards the cafeteria for lunch.

"I hate this! Look.." Kurt pouted, pulling the hem of his long-sleeved shirt and showing Blaine the sweat stain running down the front.

Blaine laughed and rumpled Kurt's chestnut hair playfully. "Why did you wear it? Today's like 98 degrees outside."

Kurt batted Blaine's hand away from his carefully coifed hair and tucked a stray strand back into place. He rolled his eyes dramatically. "This sweater was a present from my auntie who lives in Chicago. I just had to show you, Blaine."

He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. and Blaine took a second look at Kurt's outfit. He didn't care as much for clothing as his friend did but Blaine had to admit, that the sweater Kurt was wearing did bring out the blue in his eyes.

"I have something else to show you," Kurt said just before they reached the wide open doors of the cafeteria.

He stopped in the middle of the lackluster hallway and stuck a hand in the pocket of his cream-colored pants.

"What?" Blaine asked, curiously, peering at Kurt's hand as he withdrew it from his pocket. In the other boy's pale palm were two bracelets.

"I made these," Kurt declared, smiling proudly.

Blaine frowned. "Why?"

The bracelets were made of multi-colored beads, some round, others square and both had a plastic star in the center. On one bracelet, the star was green. On the other, yellow.

Kurt held out the green one to Blaine. "I thought we could wear them when we play at recess. It could be like our secret thing."

"But don't only girls make friendship bracelets?" Blaine murmured, worriedly.

Kurt looked confused, at first. Then he shrugged. "So? You're my best friend, Blaine. We don't have to show anyone else."

"Boys!"

A feminine voice interrupted Kurt and Blaine's quiet conversation and they both looked up to see their homeroom teacher standing at the entrance of the cafeteria, glaring. "It's lunchtime," she exclaimed. There was an underlying warning that in her voice that made it clear to the boys that they would be in trouble if they didn't follow her then. So Kurt and Blaine quickly turned in that direction.

Once Mrs. Sander's back was turned, Blaine reached over and wrapped his hand around Kurt's, taking the bracelet with the green star that the other boy was still holding.

Kurt glanced over at Blaine and smiled shyly.

_1973_

Kurt Hummel tied a lavender scarf around his neck and adjusted the collar of dark blue button down shirt.

He thought he looked spiffy but he hoped that nobody would give him too much crap for his color choices. Anything that wasn't plaid or fire-truck red in Lima wasn't considered acceptable men's wear and especially at McKinley High, it was risky for Kurt to be wearing "girl clothes" in the presence of so many jocks.

"But I'm not wearing girl clothes," Kurt sniffed, examining himself in the mirror of his bathroom. He thought it was ridiculous how people at his school labeled you something depending on what you were wearing. He had been called many things since arriving at McKinley a freshman in white pants and a V-neck powder blue shirt two years ago; statements like "sissy", "a Barry Manilow-wannabe" and "fairy" were only a few insults Kurt had been peppered with his first day of high school. And it only went downhill from there. But this year, Kurt swore he wouldn't let it get to him. Not just the name-calling and degrading sneers from football and hockey players, but also everything that consisted of his own personal hell.

This year, Kurt Hummel would not be ignored by his teachers for being smarter than them. This year, he would not be forced to be paired off with a stoner kid or dumb cheerleader during science or history projects. This year, he would not let anyone bully him into doing their work for them; student or teacher. And most importantly, this year Kurt Hummel would not be forced to the back of the choir room.

That was his main goal for the year; to be front and center during glee practice because he was sick of living in Rachel Berry's shadow.

"_This year, Kurt Hummel's going to be a star," _he decided in his head as he turned off the bathroom light and made his way back into his bedroom, picking up the messenger bag that lay on his bed. He walked out into the homey corridor towards his new stepbrother's room.

"Finn, you up?" Kurt asked, knocking on the closed door.

There was no answer so he knocked again and pushed the door open a crack.

His stepbrother lay face-down on his bed, entirely oblivious to the time or the fact that they would both be late for school on account of his late sleeping habits.

"Get up, Finn!" Kurt yelled, grabbing a pen from the desk near the doorway and chucking it at the lump of blankets sound asleep on the drooping mattress.

The lump made a noise that sounded like "Errrgh" and Kurt declared, "It's 7:30," in a clearly impatient voice.

He raced downstairs to the kitchen where he found his father standing at the sink, rinsing out a coffee mug.

"Dad, you didn't eat those week-old bagels, did you?" Kurt asked worriedly as he set his bag down on one of the chairs around the kitchen table. "I was going to throw those out. The doctor said you're only supposed to have whole-grains-"

"I know, Kurt," Burt Hummel said with a sigh. "You don't have to keep chastising me about my diet. He did give me a list of instructions I have to follow."

"I know," Kurt replied in a softer tone. "I'm just making sure you remember.."

Burt glanced up at his son and smiled fondly. "You're just like your mother sometimes, you know? Always worrying unnecessarily.." He paused. "But I'm grateful that you do, especially when this is your first day of school. Are you excited, Kurt?"

Kurt shrugged, not wanting to reveal how frightfully nervous he really felt. "Sure. I mean, I get to see Tina again and I really missed Mercedes this summer while she was away at her grandma's."

Burt nodded slowly. "Where's Finn?"

Kurt exhaled loudly. "I told him to get up. I swear he's going to make us both late and I'm going to-"

"I'm right here," came a voice from behind Kurt and he turned to see his dark-haired, groggy stepbrother lumbering down the stairs towards the kitchen in nothing but a pair of raggedy jeans and a plaid t-shirt.

"_Of course," _Kurt thought. _"He just had to look like a lumberjack."_

"Good morning, kiddo!" Burt called to Finn. "Want some toast and scrambled eggs?"

Finn's face lit up but before he could answer, Kurt said, "We don't have time. Finn will just have to eat an apple or a banana, since he couldn't drag himself out of bed when I called him the first time."

"Aww dude, that's not fair!" Finn whined. "I'm starving."

"Let's go!" Kurt grabbed an apple from the bowl on the countertop and gave his father a quick peck on the cheek. "Bye, Dad."

"Have a good day, son."

Burt watched as Kurt pulled his messenger bag over his slim shoulder and rushed to the front door. He repeated the farewell to Finn, even though concerns were mostly centered on his biological son, who he hoped would have an easier time making friends this year than he'd had in the past.

Not even waiting for Kurt to come to a complete stop in front of the school, Finn Hudson tore open the door of Kurt's Dodge and leapt out. Kurt sighed as he saw the group of jocks standing only a few parking spaces away, idling dumbly around a black Chevrolet Chevelle with a white stripe running down the length of the hood.

"See you later, Finn!" He called out sarcastically to which he only received a quick nod from his hulking stepbrother.

Kurt grumbled as he parked the car and turned off the engine. Grabbing his messenger bag from the backseat, he made his way out and started trudging towards the school.

The morning was bright and Kurt slid the pair of white sunglasses off the top of his head down over his eyes.

"Hey, cutie!" a cheerful feminine voice called as he was climbing up the steps towards the front double doors.

He peered over his shoulder and found his best girl-friend, Tina Cohen-Cheng. following him in a pair of white boots and a Jersey-wrap dress.

"Hi, Tina," Kurt chimed, a little more enthusiastically. He could always count on the Asian girl to understand him and try to make him feel better, which on most days, was all he could hope for. "What's up?"

"Well, I have home economics with you, Trig with Mercedes, English with you again and all my other classes are filled with the worst this school has to offer." Tina said the last part in the same cheery voice she'd used to address Kurt, which made the statement true but funny; exactly the kind of distraction Kurt needed as they filed through the school's entrance.

He sighed as he side-stepped a group of girls in tight leather mini skirts who gave them irritated glares as they brushed by. "My schedule's probably the same," Kurt muttered. "But at least, I have a plan this year."

Tina raised a thinly-shaped eyebrow. "Oh, what plan is that?"

Kurt pulled back his shoulders confidentially. "I am going to outshine Rachel Berry this year."

Tina burst out laughing. "Kurt, sweetie, no one can outshine Rachel Berry. At least, not any of us. Mr. Shue pushes everyone who isn't a Cheerio or the Berry-Andersons to the back of the choir room every time we have practice. There's no way-"

"No, see, there is," Kurt reassured her as they meandered through a sea of diversely-dressed teenagers. "Because I'm going to volunteer to be her lackey and then once I win her trust, I'll be able to convince Mr. Shuester to put me in the center. I might not get a solo right away, but my voice will be more recognizable when I'm standing beside those two phonies."

Tina, though thinking her friend's determination impressive, sighed sympathetically. "Dream on, Kurt. Dream on."

"It's not a total long-shot," Kurt said, trying not to sound defensive. "I'm the only guy in our club who can hit the high notes. Mr. Shue needs me and once he sees just how versatile my singing can be and how different and special that makes his entire team, especially when it's time for Sectionals, he'll start taking advantage of my talent."

"I guess you're right," Tina conceded quietly. "But I wouldn't call Rachel and Blaine complete phonies. Divas and attention whores, sure. But you have to admit, Rachel's voice is killer."

Kurt rolled his eyes at this

"And Blaine.. He's just.." Tina sighed, her brown eyes clouded momentarily with a starry look that made Kurt want to puke. "Blaine's just beautiful."

"Blaine!"

The dark-haired teen pulled his lips away from his partner's and turned his head, giving the owner of the shrill call a dirty glance.

"What is it, sister of mine?" He demanded with serene sarcasm.

The other boy at his side merely smiled and looped an arm around his waist.

"Do you want to get kicked out on your first day or worse, arrested?!" Rachel Anderson-Berry shrieked as she approached her stepbrother, Blaine, who was caught in a gentle yet passionate embrace with his boyfriend right under the senior staircase.

Blaine rolled his honey-colored eyes. "You're being overly dramatic, as usual."

"Yeah," Blaine's boyfriend, Eli, said beside him. "And even if someone does complain to Figgins, he won't do anything because he hates a scandal just as much as any principal and Blaine is one of his best students."

Blaine's cheeks flushed scarlet but Rachel merely pursed her lips.

"Just keep the whole queer thing down a notch," she said evenly. "I don't want to be known around school as the sister of the very promiscuous fruit!"

Blaine glared but before he could say something, Rachel turned on the heel of beige Mary Janes and flounced off to her first class.

Blaine exhaled an exasperated sigh and Eli chuckled.

"Maybe she's right, though. Maybe we should go to a more secluded spot."

"What?" Blaine asked, frustrated. "Rachel's just a selfish hag!"

"Aww, come on," Eli murmured, grabbing Blaine's arm and pulling him towards the boys' restroom on the opposite end of the hallway.

"Are you serious?"

Blaine asked as he was led inside. "This isn't much better than the staircase. Someone can come in at any time-"

"Not if we're here during class," Eli responded, ushering Blaine into one of the stalls.

"I'm not going to cut class just to hook up," Blaine said as Eli locked the door and pushed him up against the wall. "No matter how cute you are."

"Of course not. You're a little goody-two-shoes," his boyfriend replied with a hint of irritation that Blaine had never heard before. "But you can make an excuse once in awhile, can't you? Maybe at 11:15 during second period every afternoon.." He started licking Blaine's neck.

"God," Blaine sighed, leaning his head back. "This is silly. Why can't we just hold hands and kiss like normal people? Why is it such a big deal?"

"Hmm.." Eli hummed, moving his lips down Blaine's throat. "Aren't you the altruist?"

He swept his hands down Blaine's chest as Blaine covered his mouth with his warm lips.

"God, not again!"

Kurt grumbled as he rushed into the boys' restroom only a few minutes after saying goodbye to Tina in the hallway.

He had just been walking to class when a hockey player had accosted him with a slushy. Now he was covered in hideous red dye and shivering.

Kurt thought it a relief, at least. that he was wearing dark blue jeans. His scarf was ruined, however, and his button-down shirt was stained in some places.

Sulkily, he moved towards the sink.

The minute he turned on the faucet, Kurt heard a soft intake of breath from behind him but he paid it no heed. He simply continued to wet a paper towel and try to scrub off the bits of colored ice from off his shirt. The second bell rang and he knew he had to hurry up.

He didn't even raise his head when he heard the creak of one of the stall doors opening. He just figured it was some other tardy kid but then a familiar voice murmured, "I told you this was a bad idea" and Kurt glanced up to see Blaine Anderson standing behind with another boy, looking embarrassed.

Blaine and the boy Kurt didn't recognize both adjusted their clothes and backpacks and Kurt couldn't help but notice how Blaine's arms looked sinewy, poking out of the short-sleeves of his midriff tee.

His handsome face was timid as he caught Kurt staring.

"Hey," Blaine said quietly.

Kurt swallowed thickly. "How's it going?"

The last time Kurt had seen Blaine it had been a month ago at the diner in town. Blaine had been with Rachel and she had ignored Kurt completely. Now Kurt didn't know what to say for many reasons; the main one being that both in such an awkward situations, Kurt covered in with slushy residual and Blaine with his boyfriend's hand still shoved in his back pocket.

"Umm.. I'm good," Blaine replied, almost inaudibly. "How about you?"

"Yeah," Eli spoke before Kurt could answer. "What happened? Did you piss off one of the puck-heads or is it raining soda outside?" He smirked at the drops of red dye on Kurt's jeans.

"It's slushy, actually," Kurt said tersely, his eyes narrowing. "And I didn't piss off anybody. Those jocks came after me."

"Eli, let's go," Blaine said, seeing the defensive flash in Kurt's eyes and the taunting gleam in Eli's. He didn't understand why his boyfriend had suddenly turned into a bully but nonetheless, it made him feel guilty, having just emerged from a restroom stall with him. "We're going to be late," he added, tugging on Eli's hand.

The other boy gave Kurt a taunting wink. "I bet that scarf's the reason those jocks were picking on you."

Kurt glared. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's a little too gay, even for you, don't you think?" Eli sneered, making Kurt glance down at the silk scarf in his hands and Blaine mortified by the humiliated look on his old best friend's eyes. He pulled hastily on Eli's hand and they exited the restroom.

Kurt sighed, gathering up his belongings at the sound of the third bell ringing. Why couldn't he had just ignored Blaine Anderson? It wasn't like they had anything in common now that Blaine was popular and he was just.. Late for class.

"Damn it!" Kurt muttered, tearing down the hallway, his shoes squeaking on the floor.

One thing he knew for sure was that he couldn't waste time, thinking about Blaine.

* * *

I am looking for a beta, if anyone is interested, please contact me.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, obviously Rachel does not have 2 gay dads :P She has one dad who married Blaine's mom. He might be closetcase, might not, but it's a change I had to make to fit the times.

Glee does not belong to me.

* * *

"_Did you lose yourself somewhere out there?_

_Did you get to be a star?_

_And don't it make you sad to know that_

_Life is more than who you are?_

_We grew up way too fast_

_And now there's nothing to believe._

_And reruns all become our history,_

_A tired song on a tired radio."_

_- "Name", The Goo Goo Dolls_

Mr. Shuester was a teacher who had surprised Kurt for many reasons when he'd first walked into the choir room freshman year and found him sitting on the piano bench, welcoming students in who wanted to audition for glee club.

Kurt had been astounded by the man's nonjudgmental observation of him and his obvious flamboyant nature. Most of the educators at William McKinley High tolerated Kurt's individuality with a critical reluctance, but Mr. Shue had readily complimented his soprano tone and accepted him into the club with no qualms to his style or appearance.

But now, Kurt was disappointed to see that the only teacher who he thought he could trust to support him at school was letting him down in favor of a raven-haired girl, who, yes, had indeed an incredible voice, but was so selfish she didn't let anybody else take center stage with her.

That is, anyone else but her stepbrother, Blaine.

Kurt didn't really have anything against Blaine. He did understand that the boy with hazel eyes had a captivating presence and somewhat of a romantic voice but it didn't help Kurt's case that his former childhood friend never spoke up on anyone else's behalf when his sister was overruling their opinion.

Blaine, Kurt figured, was just too comfortable in the spotlight and wasn't entirely narcissistic like Rachel.

Sitting between Tina and his other best girl-friend, Mercedes Jones, up on the risers in the choir room, Kurt peered down at the siblings below. They were facing Mr. Shue as he scribbled the names of their competitors for Regionals on the board.

Unexpectedly, Blaine glanced over his shoulder and met Kurt's stare.

Kurt stiffened in his seat and raised his chin up higher, making it seem like he was only looking at the ceiling, but he caught a glimpse of Blaine smirking and it only made him want to interrupt Rachel's speech more.

He lifted his hand tentatively. "Mr. Shue, can I make a suggestion?" he inquired as Rachel prattled on about song selections for Regionals that would best feature hers and Blaine's vocal talents.

Mr. Shue turned to Kurt with a surprised look as Rachel glared over her shoulder.

"Umm, sure, Kurt. Go right ahead," the choir director addressed Kurt, giving him the okay to stand up and grace the room with a cautious yet bright smile.

"I was thinking we could do a group number and two duets; one with Rachel and Blaine, and the other one with a different pairing. Maybe we could have auditions to pick out the other two best qualified singers."

He plopped back down as the room erupted in excited whispers.

Mercedes raised her hand. "I think Kurt's idea is fantastic, Mr. Shue," she declared. "I'd like to audition for that last song."

"Me too!" Tina quipped. "Kurt and I could sing an excellent duet together. Our voices are so harmonious." She winked at the blue-eyed boy who grinned.

"Mr. Shue," Rachel protested. "While, Kurt's idea is very interesting, Blaine and I-"

"Have been singing lead since the day this club was founded," Mercedes interrupted, glaring down at Rachel from the top risers. "And it's getting boring."

Rachel gasped, standing. "I resent that! Blaine and I are never boring! Our performances are inspiring. You're just jealous because-"

"Because what, Rachel?" Mercedes countered, suddenly leaning forward in her seat with a defiant look in her eyes that bordered on threatening.

Mr. Shuester quickly got everyone to quiet down. "Enough, Mercedes! There's no need to feel thwarted in any way. Kurt has an excellent point and that we should showcase new talent in this group, beside Rachel and Blaine. It's only fair," he added, giving Rachel a patient yet pointed look. "And it could better our chances at winning Regionals if our group is more diverse."

"Damn straight!" Artie Abrams, the boy propped up in his wheelchair on the next to Finn on the floor exclaimed.

Finn, for his part, glanced nervously at Rachel and the gesture didn't go unnoticed by Kurt who resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He'd noticed as of late that his stepbrother, who despite being the quarterback of the football team and boyfriend of the head cheerleader, Quinn Fabray, had developed a bit of a soft spot for Rachel. Kurt hoped that it wouldn't grow into a full-blown crush because having Rachel as a sister-in-law sounded downright horrible!

"Rachel, I think Mr. Shuester's right," Kurt was shocked to hear Blaine murmur to his sister. "It is fair and it could be interesting to hear other people's performances for a change."

"Yeah and I've been practicing my Mick Jagger moves too!" Noah Puckerman, an intimidating teen with a Mohawk who sat next to Finn, emphasized grandly. "I've been dying to show off my crazy guitar skills and shake my hips to work in some sex appeal-"

"Umm, that's wildly inappropriate!" Rachel interrupted, glaring at Mr. Shue as if to say, "_What are you going to do about this miscreant?"_

But to her disappointment, Mr. Shue seemed just as enthralled by Kurt's suggestion as the rest of the group.

"Let's talk about song selections later. Our time's almost up and we should pick out a date for auditions.."

The room grew noisier as everyone excitedly tried to figure out the best weekday to perform their numbers and Kurt grinned to himself, ignoring Rachel's infuriated stare from below the risers and Blaine's quiet voice as he tried to participate without pissing off his sister.

"This is disastrous!" Rachel exploded as she and Blaine made their way out into the hallway at the end of glee practice.

"Rachel," Blaine sighed. "We're still going to get our duet so what's the harm in letting our team mates perform something of theirs, as well?"

Rather than answering Blaine, Rachel merely tossed back her hair and asked, "And what is up with Kurt? Is he trying to steal my spotlight by turning everyone against us?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "He might not even get the solo, Rachel. Weren't you listening? Mr. Shue said everyone has to audition. Mercedes might get it, or Tina or Puck or Artie."

"But this could be Kurt's angle!" Rachel argued. "He could be suggesting that everyone audition just to make himself look humble, and then snag the solo for himself by conjuring up some hidden agenda."

Blaine laughed. "Who do you think he is, Dr. Evil? Kurt isn't that devious. Conceited and picky, maybe, but trust me, I know him."

"What, when you were twelve?" Rachel demanded, folding her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow tauntingly. "Things changed, Blaine," she said, as if talking to a six-year old. "Kurt isn't the same person you used to ride bikes with, okay? I used to have sleepovers with Brittany and some the other cheerleaders when I was a kid and now look at us! Not a day goes by when they don't mock the hell out of me and try to make my life miserable."

"It's not like that with Kurt and me," Blaine protested. He thought back to earlier that day in the restroom and blushed fiercely, remembering how Kurt's face had been contorted with shame when Blaine's boyfriend had insulted him. If he could take that moment back, he would.

Blaine thought, _"Maybe I should apologize on Eli's behalf."_

"Whatever," Rachel muttered, not at all convinced by Blaine's defense of the countertenor in their class. "One thing I know for sure is, we can't let him win, either way. No," she shook her head. "I'd rather lose a solo to Mercedes who has very strong vocal chords than to that prissy little ice queen."

Blaine rubbed a hand over the nape of his neck and decided that no matter what his sister did, he would try to make amends with Kurt before things got really ugly and he missed his chance.

"Blaine, it's Eli!" Rachel called from the kitchen later that evening.

She stood with the mint green phone held out to her stepbrother as he came treading down the staircase of the two-story redbrick house they shared with their parents, Leroy and Bianca who had gotten married a few years ago.

Blaine took the phone from Rachel and she flounced to the dining room to set the table.

"Hey, baby!" Eli said when Blaine greeted the voice on the other end of the phone.

He wrapped the chord around his arm as he spoke. "What's going on?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to go out Friday night?" Eli asked with a hopeful tone that Blaine just found adorable.

He smiled. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"There's this club in Westerville called Blazes I think would be fun.."

"Eli," Blaine interrupted reluctantly. "I don't think that'll work. My parents have been grilling me about all the nights we've been down to Columbus."

"But this is in Westerville, baby," Eli pressed. "It's right around the corner and you can just tell them we're going to a movie."

Blaine watched as Leroy, his stepfather, came down the stairs with a pair of reading glasses in one hand and a copy of Paradise Lost in the other. He didn't know if he would be allowed to go to a movie after the lecture he'd received last time he and Eli had ventured out into the city on a weekend. His parents were extremely worried that they would be targeted by drunk college guys or even the police for holding hands or walking too closely. While Blaine found this idea to be slightly paranoid, he did think his boyfriend was a bit too carefree and naïve sometimes. He had heard about the rough treatment that homosexual men were subjected to by the cops and there were always one or two officers stationed outside of the bars on High Street in Columbus.

"I don't know," Blaine finally said. "I'll have to ask."

"You do that, cutie, and let me know," Eli replied before hanging up.

Blaine didn't feel too optimistic as he sat down to dinner with his family. He was sure his parents would insist that he stay home that weekend, and a part of him actually preferred it because he missed the old days when he and Eli had just hang out in the living room, watching television after dinner and occasionally cuddle when his parents and Rachel were distracted.

All Eli wanted to do nowadays was go to clubs and while it was exciting for Blaine, being a small town boy and all, he was starting to miss the quiet moments they used to have together. Not to mention that it had been awhile since they'd had real alone time outside of high school bathrooms, cars and storage closets.

Blaine really wanted alone time..

"Blaine," Leroy asked him over their supper of roasted potatoes and lamb chops and Waldorf salad for vegetarian Rachel. "Have you and Rachel picked out your songs for Regionals?"

Blaine shook his head but before he could answer, Rachel piped up, "There was a misunderstanding in glee club today and Mr. Shuester is taking more time to decide on our song selections."

She stabbed at a grape with her fork in annoyance.

Blaine suppressed a groan.

"What kind of misunderstanding?" Leroy asked.

"It was nothing," Blaine answered hurriedly. "We figured it all out."

"That's good because I heard that the competing team are even more intimidating than the ones at Sectionals. You've the Dalton Warblers this time and Vocal Adrenaline from Carmel High.."

"Yes, we know," Blaine muttered, turning his attention to his glass of apple cider to disguise the fact that he was getting fed up with talk of Regionals.

"Umm.. I was wondering if I could go to a movie on Friday night.. with Eli?"

Leroy set his water glass down and Blaine's mother chewed on a piece of lamb slowly before answering, "I don't think that's such a good idea, Blaine."

"I agree with your mother," Leroy said. "You and Eli have been out a lot lately and I thought we should have a family night instead, maybe invite the Stantons over and play some board games."

"And I don't think it's safe for you to be going out alone with just Eli,"

Bianca added.

Blaine sighed. "Mom, we're just going to the movies."

"I'm not an idiot, Blaine," his mother replied, leaning over the table and eyeballing him. "I know you and Eli hold hands and kiss like other teenagers but that is what worries me. What if someone at the theater complains? What if you're escorted out by an officer? A lot of people would've seen and-"

"Mom, I'm already out!" Blaine exclaimed, shocked.

"But not everybody knows that! Only our closest friends don't judge you but strangers out there will do much worse than give you and Eli dirty looks. They might even try to hurt you. And I know you go those bars and clubs, Blaine. Don't deny it. Do you know how dangerous it is in that part of town?"

Blaine exhaled sharply, setting his fork down with a clatter. "Then where am I supposed to go? I can't hold hands with my boyfriend. I can't do anything because it's too risky. This is so frustrating!"

Bianca Anderson-Berry pursed her lips and stared at her son across the table with concern and pity. "I know, honey. Believe me, I understand that you and Eli are just trying to have fun like regular teenagers but you're not, Blaine. You're not and I hate that, but it's the law. If it were up to me, you'd have the same freedoms as Rachel and every other kid in this town but-" She sighed. "I'm sorry. You can't keep going to those clubs, not when there's a high risk of you getting stabbed to death or arrested for indecency."

"It's not indecent," Blaine muttered.

"To the police, it is."

Everyone fell quiet and Blaine pushed his food around his plate with no interest.

After awhile, Leroy spoke again. "I think if Blaine really wants to go see a movie with Eli, he should take Rachel along."

Blaine raised his head, staring daggers at his stepfather. Well-meaning though Leroy was, he couldn't imagine a more excruciating experience than sitting in a movie theater with Rachel squealing at some stupid romance film on screen between him and Eli.

"Sounds fine," Rachel stated before turning to Blaine and pointing her fork at him. "But we're not seeing _Dog Day Afternoon," _she stated. " I hate gangster movies."

Blaine grunted and pushed back his chair. "Fine.. I'll go call Eli."

He shuffled towards the kitchen with little enthusiasm.

"_This is going to be torture!" _he thought.

Not only would he not get alone time with Eli, but he'd also have to baby-sit Rachel that weekend!


	3. Chapter 3

Glee does not belong to me.

* * *

_"Well, how was I to know that_  
_What we carved in stone would be so temporary?_  
_How was I to know that my first crack at love would not be the last?_  
_It's in the air now, bitter tears and broken hearts._  
_We're teenagers, we count the years, we think we're smart._  
_But we're not, we don't know anything."_  
_- "Teenagers", Hayley Williams_

"Be safe, kids," Bianca Anderson-Berry said as she let Blaine and Rachel brush past her on their way to the front door.  
She wasn't too happy about them going out and her concerns were especially turned towards her son who looked charming and neat in a pair of beige slacks, a black short-sleeved shirt and butterscotch bowtie. She knew he could be a little too optimistic at times, and those were risky times.  
"Why, just this past summer that gay bar in New Orleans was torched!" Bianca remembered, clasping at the pink crystal necklace hanging about her neck as she watched from the window Blaine and Rachel get into Blaine's car. After they drove away, Bianca turned away from the window, thinking resolutely, "Well, Blaine isn't going to a gay bar. He's going to a movie with his sister. Stop overreacting!"

Blaine followed Rachel into the Montrose Theater with shoulders slightly slumped, but his pulse picked up when he raised his head and saw a familiar figure in light blue jeans and a button down plaid aqua shirt.  
Rachel rolled her eyes good-naturedly as she caught sight of the smile on her stepbrother's face. "Go on, then, cowboy," she said, giving Blaine a light shove towards the bench in the lobby where Eli was sitting. "I'll get the popcorn and drinks."  
"Get me a box of Andes? Thanks!" Blaine pecked Rachel on the cheek before moving towards Eli.  
"Hey babe," Eli whispered, giving Blaine a loose sideways hug.  
Blaine wished with everything inside him that it wouldn't be considered weird if he folded his arms around Eli and held him tightly, especially seeing as Eli's shoulders looked so broad in that shirt and Blaine was feeling himself getting hard.  
"It's been a long time!" he thought as he casually brushed a hand against Eli's forearm and mumbled a greeting.  
"You look adorable," Eli said in a low voice as they waited for Rachel to return from the concession stand.  
"I'm sorry about this," Blaine replied quietly. "I wanted to be alone with you, I swear."  
Eli shrugged. "We can still be alone."  
"What, in the restrooms?" Blaine demanded suddenly in a harsh whisper. It surprised him how terse he sounded. "Behind the dumpster in the alley? I'm sick of that, Eli. It's not how I want to do this."  
He gave Eli a pointed look but the other boy didn't respond for a couple of seconds. Finally he said, "Rachel's coming. Can you hold on till after the movie? Maybe we can go park somewhere."  
Blaine rolled his eyes but stood as they caught sight of Rachel approaching.  
She looked flustered as she shoved two soda cups and a box of chocolate mints at Blaine and a bag of popcorn at Eli.  
"That little weasel Kurt is here with Finn," she hissed, jerking her head towards the line at the concession stand where Blaine caught sight of Finn Hudson looming over the other people waiting and Kurt leaning over the counter, speaking to an attendant.  
His stomach fell as he thought about the outrageous scene his sister might make in front of these two and how embarrassed he'd be because of it.  
But to his surprise, Rachel made it a point to ignore Kurt the entire time they were in line to hand in their tickets to the usher. She never once glanced in the their classmate's direction but Blaine offer Kurt a nod during the brief moment that their eyes met. Kurt returned it stiffly, quickly casting his icy blue gaze towards the framed pictures on the walls.  
Kurt was wore a pair of really tight jeans and laced up ankle boots, making Blaine wonder how he hadn't gotten taunted yet by the other teenagers standing in line behind him. The crowd consisted of mostly jock types and their girlfriends, among which Quinn Fabray, the head cheerleader at McKinley lingered, her hand poised on Finn's arm.  
"Maybe it's because he's with his stepbrother so he's not getting picked on," Blaine mused as he moved farther up towards the usher behind Eli and Rachel.  
He didn't know why Kurt seemed to have so little regard for his safety when wearing such eye-popping clothes in public. But in a way, Blaine thought it brave, if not slightly arrogant and stupid. _"I mean, doesn't he know that he can get beat up at any time and nobody_ _would care?"_

The movie Rachel picked for them to see was the same one Kurt, Finn and Quinn were watching too and Blaine couldn't help but feel even more unnerved by the whole situation. He and Eli sat side by side with Rachel on one of the highest rows looking over their high school classmates and Blaine noticed Rachel's eyes trailing towards the back of Finn's head every so often. He suppressed a groan.  
"That's just what I need," he thought. "For Rachel to be crushing on the quarterback when he already has a girlfriend. Why does she always have to make everything so complicated?"  
Blaine's inner grumblings were interrupted, however, when his boyfriend grasped his hand between the two seats and he jerked his head to the side, catching Eli's timidly flirtatious stare.  
In that tender second, Blaine almost gave in, and stood up with the intention of escaping to the restroom where Eli would follow, but then he caught sight of a young woman in the row right below them glancing over her shoulder at them and he lost the nerve.  
"And besides," he decided, squeezing Eli's hand once before dropping it. "I'm sick of doing it in restrooms.."  
Eli gave him a cheeky grin and leaned closer. "We could stop by Willow Park on Sunday, get our cuddle on there," he whispered with a slightly mocking tone in his voice.  
Blaine ignored it and asked, "What time?"  
"Early like at eight because that's when I go for my run and parents won't suspect any different."  
Blaine sighed lowly. "Alright. I'll meet you there at eight."  
So quick, Blaine barely felt it, Eli placed a kiss on his cheek. But he wasn't complaining; it even alleviated some of the irritation of not being able to do that night.  
Blaine could wait. Hell, he would because he was in love.

On their way out of the theater, Blaine noticed again how his stepsister's eyes flicked towards Finn and his pretty blond yet arrogant girlfriend, and  
he caught her attention by asking Rachel what she'd thought of the film, of which Blaine had seen little himself. Rachel hurriedly pulled her gaze away from the pair in matching McKinley red jackets and launched into a babble of criticisms centered on the actors' performance and the director's poor knowledge of ballet and jazz.  
Kurt barely glanced in Blaine's direction but that didn't bother Blaine as he was trying to ignore him, as well. Eli briefly brushed his hand over the small of Blaine's back in the parking lot in front of the movie theater and the other teen's and attention was quickly turned elsewhere.

At home, Blaine felt exhausted but also jumpy with adrenaline from the kiss Eli had given him in the car before he and Rachel and dropped him off.  
It had been quick yet deep, and Blaine had gripped Eli's forearm as Eli slipped his warm tongue inside Blaine's mouth. They'd only pulled apart when Rachel cleared her throat loudly in the backseat.  
"I'll see you on Sunday, cutie," Eli had whispered before slipping out of the car.  
Now Blaine was heading across the upstairs hallway to his room with dragging feet and a lazy grin at the idea of seeing Eli again and sharing another, maybe even hotter kiss.  
He passed by Rachel's room and paused in the open doorway.  
She was unbraiding her chocolate-tinted hair and gazing at her reflection in the vanity mirror near her bed with a serious look.  
"Hey," Blaine said hesitantly. "Is everything okay? I thought you said the movie was 'reasonably entertaining for a first time dance flick'."  
Rachel glanced over her shoulder at Blaine and offered him a small grin. "It was, but.."  
She stopped fiddling with her hair and plopped down on her lavender bedspread.  
Blaine hated entering Rachel's room for many reasons; it smelled sickeningly of sugary older women's perfume and the fact that there was always too much pink being two of them, yet he did so now because he could see a hint of actual sadness in his sister's eyes.  
Even though she was annoying as hell most of the time, Blaine cared about this girl and their mutual love of music and performing made their partnership easy, even when they weren't in school.  
"What is it?" Blaine wondered, sitting next to her.  
Rachel twisted her hands in her lap, hesitating for a moment. When she spoke, her voice sounded small and insecure. "Quinn is lovely, isn't she?"  
Blaine bit his bottom lip and tried not to sigh. He knew he'd have to let Rachel know he'd picked on her crush on Finn Hudson and he would really rather not go there. "I wouldn't use the word 'lovely', exactly. I mean, she's pretty, but she isn't exactly bubbly or even friendly."  
Rachel shrugged. "When has that mattered? All people care about are your looks."  
Blaine tucked his feet underneath him as he scooted closer to Rachel on the mattress. "I know it seems that way-"  
"Because it is," she countered, raising an eyebrow, tauntingly.  
But Blaine ignored the challenge in her eyes and just swept a hand down her back gently. "You're pretty, Rachel, maybe not in a cliché blond cheerleader sort of way, but you are."  
Rachel shook her head. "You're just saying that because you're my stepbrother."  
"No, I could be a mean stepbrother. You just hit the jackpot." Blaine smiled teasingly.  
"Fine," Rachel sighed. "Then you're too dapper to insult a girl."  
"Not true," Blaine said immediately. "Besides being a unique and beautiful brunette, you are also a control freak, Rachel," he added, making Rachel give off a small laugh and shove him down playfully.  
"You're annoying as hell!"  
"Right back atcha!" Blaine gasped as Rachel tried to tickle him.  
He rolled from underneath her but before he could stand up, she threw a miniature stuffed bear at his head.  
"Oops, it might stick to your gel," Rachel giggled, watching as Blaine grabbed the offending bear and peered at it critically.  
"Funny," he muttered, tossing it back and turning for the door. "What are you, eight?"  
He paused before walking out and turned back to see Rachel cradling the stuffed animal and sitting cross-legged, the look of sadness back on her face.  
"You know," Blaine began. "I think Finn is an idiot for not noticing you."  
Rachel lifted her head. "Huh?"  
Blaine shrugged at her confused expression. "Well, if he's too dumb or arrogant to see how special you are, then I don't think he's worth your time."  
"Finn isn't arrogant, Blaine," Rachel argued calmly. "He's a little dense but he's really nice deep down."  
"Deep down? You don't even know him that well."  
"Yes, I do!" Rachel's voice was louder this time and she glanced back down. "It's Quinn, she tries to make Finn feel like being popular is the only thing he's good at and sometimes he even believes her."  
Blaine thought for a moment. "But still, Rachel, don't get involved with someone who's already taken. It's not right and like it or not, Quinn does have a lot of influence at school. She can make your life terrible and you don't deserve that."  
Rachel nodded slowly and Blaine wondered if she had disregarded everything he'd just said.  
"Good night," Blaine mumbled, heading out into the hallway.  
"Good night," came the quiet response.

He went into his room and stripped off his bowtie and shirt, dropping them unceremoniously in a hamper by the closet, and proceeded towards the drawer to get a pair of pajama bottoms.  
It had been awhile since he had dug through the third drawer of his dresser, but he paused when he came upon something hidden between a pair of acrylic socks and plaid pajama short.  
Under piles of silk and wool was a beaded bracelet. Blaine's fingers idled over the worn string for a moment before pulling it out.  
He remembered the day Kurt had presented it to him in the fourth grade and the first time he had ever seen the boy who was once his best pal.

_"There's this boy in my class, his name is Kurt," Blaine recalled telling his mother on the drive home from school one afternoon in September seven years ago. "He has really pretty eyes. They're blue and green mixed together!"_  
_Blaine's mother had turned her head and peered at him curiously. "You think he's.. pretty?" she'd asked hesitantly, clearly confused by his choice of words._  
_Blaine had shrugged. "He's nice, too. He let me use his ruler because I forgot mine. We're going to have lunch by the tree tomorrow. It's our favorite spot because it's cooler and the other kids don't go there because there's an anthill but if you sit on the stump, they don't bother you.."_  
_Blaine was unaware as he prattled on, that his mother's thoughts were miles away and later she would tell him that that was the day she had begun to wonder about his sexual orientation, because it was the day he'd told her he liked Kurt._

Dropping the bracelet back in the drawer, Blaine closed the dresser and turned away.  
"_Maybe Rachel was right,_" he thought, moving towards his bed. "_People change. They don't stay friends forever."_


	4. Chapter 4

__Glee does not belong to me.

* * *

_"I'm through accepting limits_  
_Because others say they're so._  
_Some things I cannot change but till I try, I'll never know._  
_Too long I've been afraid of, losing love I think I've lost._  
_Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost."_  
_- "Defying Gravity", Idina Menzel_

The air was musty inside his car and Blaine rolled down the driver's side window. Parked behind Missy's Coffee Shop on Willow Lane, he was waiting for Eli who lived only a few blocks away in one of Westerville's nicest subdivisions.  
He wasn't nervous because when he'd left the house, Rachel had already been up, mixing some type of diet drink for herself in the kitchen and she'd told Blaine that she'd tell their parents when they awoke that he'd gone out to get milk at the grocery store because they were out, which was true. He'd complained a little but deep down he didn't mind because he wasn't sure how his parents would react to knowing the truth. Blaine was starting to think that perhaps, his mom at least, wasn't too fond of his boyfriend.  
He suspected it was because of all the weekends he'd spent in the city and how much she worried about his safety, but even so, he didn't want to give his mother a reason to forbid him from seeing his Eli, especially when they were already having difficulties being intimate.  
Blaine's eyes flickered to the rearview mirror and a slow smile spread across his face as he caught sight of a well-built teen in grey sweat pants and a white hoodie walking over to the Mercedes from behind one of the dumpsters.  
Blaine quickly unlocked the passenger door as Eli approached.  
"Hey, cutie," Eli murmured, sliding inside and twisting his body to face Blaine.  
"Hey," Blaine breathed, grinning as he wrapped a hand around the back of Eli's neck and pulled him in for a slow kiss.  
He felt Eli's hand move to his right thigh and give a gentle squeeze, which excited Blaine more than it should have.  
_"God, Blaine, keep it together!_" He thought to himself as he placed both hands on Eli's chest, pushing him back against the seat and kissing him roughly. His heart pounded as Eli pulled his mouth away from his and started kissing his neck instead.  
"My parents are going to a meeting at my mom's garden committee on Thursday," Eli declared when they broke apart a few minutes later, breathless and flushed. "They won't be back till six o'clock. You can come over."  
Blaine almost laughed. It sounded too good to be true! "Are you serious?"  
"Yeah," Eli said as if it were the most obvious thing. "I missed you too." He ruffled Blaine's curls, freeing them slightly from the small amount of gel Blaine had used to style his hair.  
Blaine leaned into Eli's embrace, though, loving the way the other boy's toned arms felt around him.

When the coffee shop opened, Blaine started the car and rounded the corner so that it'd look like they were only just pulling into the visitor's lot out front. He and Eli walked inside the cheerful yet empty place and ordered tall cups of lattes, then proceeded to make their way across the street to Willow Park, where they sat on a bench overlooking the pond and sipped their drinks.  
"Have you and Rachel picked out a song to perform at Regionals?" Eli asked conversationally as they stared at the snow-colored ducks milling around the grass that bordered the small circle of water in front of them.  
"No, not yet," Blaine replied, savoring the taste of the sweet milk on his tongue before continuing. "Kurt suggested we have a third performer lead the group number so Mr. Shue is having auditions tomorrow."  
"Kurt?" There was derision in Eli's voice when he asked and Blaine merely nodded, not knowing why his boyfriend was suddenly acting weird whenever this particular classmate's name was mentioned. It couldn't be because he was jealous..  
"_That's ridiculous!_" Blaine thought.  
"Kurt Hummel? What's his deal?" Eli demanded, sounding irritated, for some reason. "He never complained before."  
"I don't think he's complaining, exactly," Blaine tried to defend Kurt, though he had to admit that not even he understood Kurt's motives for standing up to Rachel like he had the week before. "I think he just wants a shot at the spotlight. That's understandable. Rachel and I have been sort of hogging it lately.. Well, Rachel has, anyway." Blaine smirked at the end.  
But Eli just shook his head, unconvinced. "I think that kid has a crush on you and this is his weird way of trying to get close."  
Blaine couldn't help but chuckling at the notion. "Come on, are you serious? Kurt doesn't even like me, really." He shook his head, remembering the disgusted look Kurt had given him when he'd caught him and Eli in the restroom at school together. For some reason, Blaine was still embarrassed about that uncomfortable moment.  
"If it hadn't been Kurt who'd found us, would I feel this weird about it?" he wondered.  
"Umm, yeah he does!" Eli insisted. "Why don't you believe that?"  
"Because we're not even friends anymore. We haven't been since the fifth grade."  
"So?"  
Blaine sighed. "So why would he be trying to get close to me now all of a sudden? It doesn't make sense. I think he hates us, actually; Rachel and me. I think he's trying to convince Mr. Shue that he'd be a better soloist than either of us."  
"Yeah, like that's gonna happen!" Eli scoffed. His hand moved across the bench and lightly brushed against Blaine's fingers, causing Blaine to look down and wish that they could just hold hands like other people in public. "You're the best singer I've ever met," Eli said in a softer voice, his green eyes gleaming in the brightening daylight. "And the handsomest, too."  
Blaine snorted. "You're such a goof, sometimes."  
Eli grinned and pulled his hand back. "Whatever. You know it's true. This Hummel kid doesn't have a shot in hell at outshining you and Rachel. I just hope he gets the message and backs off. You're taken, right?"  
"Right," Blaine mumbled quietly, bringing his cup to his lips and taking a slow sip.  
He didn't want to believe that Eli was actually jealous of Kurt because it sounded ridiculous but he found himself wondering what Kurt had done to get under his boyfriend's skin.

_"I guess he's cute,_" Blaine thought as he watched Kurt enter the choir room on Monday afternoon.  
He was wearing a white cotton short-sleeved shirt, purple pants, white lace-up boots and a purple scarf tied with a bow around his neck. Blaine wondered, not for the first time, why the hell Kurt wore such tight pants. Was he just trying to call attention to himself? Didn't he realize how stupid that was, considering all of the homophobic students there were at their school and how everything you did was a subject of gossip?  
Blaine sighed. He tried not to think about how nice those pants made Kurt's butt look or how creamy and smooth Kurt's neck looked with the first two buttons of his shirt open.. He glanced away as Kurt approached the piano, placing a sheet of paper over the keys. He just didn't understand him anymore.  
"Well, I hope he does some trashy pop number, at least," Rachel said as she plopped down in the chair next to Blaine. "That way we can let him down easy." She threw Kurt a fake sympathetic glance but Blaine rolled his eyes at his sister's antics.  
"Rachel, he might actually have a point," Blaine defended his classmate quietly. "I haven't heard him sing in awhile 'cause he's usually in the background but I remember his audition in freshman year and Kurt's voice is pretty extraordinary."  
Rachel huffed. "Blaine, whose side are you on?" she demanded impatiently but in a low voice as the other members of their club started to file into the room. "This kid is just trying to pull one over on us."  
Blaine suppressed a groan. Leave it to Rachel to think that everything was a conspiracy against her..  
"Alright, you guys," Mr. Shuester exclaimed as he walked in behind Tina, Mike, and Mercedes. Finn and Puck wandered in behind Artie who rolled his wheelchair over to Blaine's other side. "Let's get started."  
Mr. Shue turned to Kurt who was perched nervously on the piano bench. "Kurt, you're up first?"  
"Yeah," Kurt nodded stiffly. "I'm just waiting for Brad."  
Blaine found it strange seeing Kurt so nervous, and as the piano man, Brad, walked in and sat on the bench next to Kurt, Blaine couldn't help the sudden empathy he felt for him. He remembered what his first solo was like and how anxious he'd been, standing on a stage in front of all his parents' friends and acquaintances. It'd felt like his stomach had fallen through the floor.  
"I'm ready," Kurt told Mr. Shue in a quiet tone. He stood up from the piano bench and faced the group in the center of the choir room.  
"Alright," Mr. Shue encouraged, taking a seat in the chair next to Artie. "Go for it."  
Kurt folded his hands together and bowed his head, casting his gaze to the floor, his expression meek. When he opened his mouth, however, Blaine held in a gasp. Beside him, Rachel fidgeted.  
Raising his head, Kurt fixed them with his wide aquamarine eyes and a dazzling smile on his face. He sang in a clear voice,  
" 'I'm the greatest star,  
I am by far, but no one knows it."

Blaine held his breath.  
It was "The Greatest Star" from Funny Girl, Rachel's favorite movie, that Kurt was belting out.  
He cast a sideways glance at his sister who sat with her mouth pressed in a firm line and her arms folded over her pink cashmere sweater. He knew she was fuming.  
But Kurt acted like it didn't matter; Rachel's reaction or anybody else's as he continued warbling the notes of Barbra Streisand's upbeat number and dancing around the choir room, circling the piano, leaning against its top and kicking his long legs in the air while he proclaimed in a startling soprano, " 'Some ain't got it, not a lump. I'm a great big clump of talent!'"  
When he finished, gliding across the linoleum and dropping down on one knee in front of Rachel, his arms outstretched, there was lively applause from the group and the last lyric fell from Kurt's lips in a perfect echo.  
" I am the greatest, greatest staaaaaar!'"

"Kurt, that was spectacular!" Mr. Shuester said, his smile genuine, even though his eyes held a bit of surprise in them that threw Kurt off.  
"Didn't think I could do it, did you?" the countertenor thought with some bitterness towards his choir director as he gave the man a tight grin. "Thank you, Mr. Shue," he said politely, regardless, and turned for Rachel's reaction.  
She sat with her arms crossed and back ramrod straight, her face turned slightly away from Kurt as she muttered, "I guess that was.. Remarkable."  
"It really was," Blaine chimed, giving Kurt a sincere yet tiny smile.  
Kurt grinned widely, undeterred by the restrained compliments from his two rivals. "Thank you," he said, placing both hands on his hips. "I'm glad you think so."  
"Alright, guys, let's hear something from Mercedes now," Mr. Shuester said, clapping his hands together and turning the group's attention over to the next competitor for the spotlight.  
Kurt sat down in the chair next to Tina and grinned smugly to himself. He knew he had this in the bag.

* * *

I'm having a little trouble figuring out what to write next so I apologize if it takes even longer for me to update :)


	5. Chapter 5

_okay, judging from the lack of reviews, I'm guessing that people aren't happy with me right now or the direction this story is going but I'm not going to give Kurt and Blaine a random kissing scene now just for the sake of it. I'd rather they get together gradually and in a more realistically so I ask that you be patient :)_

_Glee does not belong to me._

* * *

_"Tell me everything that happened, tell me everything you saw._  
_They had lights inside their eyes._  
_Did you see the closing window? Did you hear the slamming door?_  
_They were kids that I once knew._  
_I could say it but you won't believe me._  
_You say you do but you don't deceive me._  
_It's hard to know they're out there._  
_It's hard to know that you still care."_  
- "Dead Hearts", Stars

Rachel jumped out of the car as it pulled into a parking spot in front of McKinley High School the next morning, but Blaine lingered in the driver's seat. She had been unbearable the whole afternoon and evening of Tuesday as she prattled on about the performances of their peers in glee, critiquing Mercedes's piercing vocals, Tina's excess emotion and of course, Kurt's use of one of her favorite songs and his motives. Blaine only hoped as he unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled his book bag over his shoulder, that it would soon be over and Mr. Schue would have picked a third vocalist.  
He couldn't take Rachel's shrill ranting any longer..  
As he moved across the sunny parking lot behind Rachel, he caught some distorted movement in the corner of his eye and turned his head to see three burly teenage boys in matching brick red football jackets, herding a smaller student towards one of the dumpsters. Blaine peered around the steps leading up to front doors of the building and his eyes widened when he recognized the hassled student's teak brown hair and slim figure.  
It was Kurt, and he was obviously resisting as a football players grabbed his messenger bag and tried to snatch it away, while another pulled his arms behind his back.  
Blaine quickly sprinted towards the dumpsters.  
"Hey! What are you doing? Put him down!" he exclaimed as the jocks made to lift Kurt up and toss him in the dumpster piled high with garbage bags.  
They all turned to give Blaine identical looks of shock.  
"What's Blaine Anderson doing here?" Kurt wondered as he watched Blaine glare at the football players who had been tormenting him for years.  
He had been getting harassed by these people since freshman year without anyone noticing, especially Blaine who hadn't had a proper conversation with since the 8th grade. So why was he stepping in now?  
It didn't make any sense. Kurt just figured that ever since Blaine's mom had married Rachel's dad and meshed their families together, he'd become invisible to his former best friend. Yet, here he was now, ordering a bunch of bigger, meaner football players to put Kurt down. Why?  
"Put him down," Blaine repeated, his voice steady, his hazel eyes glowing with derision.  
The jocks didn't loosen their grip on Kurt, however. One of them sneered at Blaine, "Ooh, lookey here, it's golden boy! Why don't you go write some pretty songs about ponies or something?"  
"Yeah, mind your own business, bowtie freak," another one said.  
But Blaine just narrowed his eyes. "That's not even clever."  
"Clever?" Kurt managed to scoff, even as he was being held by two brutish Neanderthals. "What do you expect? They can't even spell their own names!"  
"Shut up, queer!"  
"Let him go now or I'll tell Coach Beiste," Blaine found himself saying before the jock holding Kurt could turn towards the dumpsters again.  
He reached out and wrapped a hand around Kurt's arm, tugging it just hard enough for his body to slip from the jock's grip and his feet land on the ground.  
Before the jock could do or say anything further, Blaine gave his shoulder one hard shove that was meant to surprise him but made him stumble backgrounds, giving Kurt a chance to on the chest, break free.  
The slender boy clutched his messenger bag tighter and moving away quickly. He and Blaine dashed for the steps at the front of McKinley as a stream of insults followed them from the dumpsters. But they didn't stop until they were inside the throng of students heading to first period.  
"Are you okay?" Blaine asked quietly as they meandered through the hallway.  
Kurt sighed. "Yeah, It's no big deal, but thanks."  
He gave Blaine an awkward smile.  
Blaine tried to shrug it off but it didn't feel right. He felt like a jerk for not noticing Kurt getting harassed by the football team before. Surely, it's happened more than once..  
"Does that..umm, does that happen a lot?"  
Kurt bit his lip. "Sometimes," he lied, not wanting Blaine to start caring now. "Why now? That's crap! He doesn't really care. He just wants to feel good about himself , like he's not a total jerk. That's it."  
"Maybe you should tell someone," Blaine answered hesitantly. "Mr. Schuester or Coach Beiste-"  
Kurt exhaled loudly. "Blaine, it's no big deal, alright? Once in awhile these airheads think it's funny to throw me in a dumpster and ruin my clothes but it doesn't matter because I always bring a second outfit-"  
"Once in awhile?" Blaine interrupted, stopping as Kurt found his locker and pressed himself against it.  
Kurt felt the cool metal through his maroon sweater and he shivered as Blaine continued to stare at him with gentle concern in his hazel eyes.  
After an uncomfortable pause, Blaine cleared his throat and glanced away, allowing Kurt to breathe.  
"Umm, I wanted to apologize before," Blaine quickly as students brushed past him at the sound of the first bell ringing. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for what Eli said to you that day.. In the restroom."  
Kurt glanced up at him, surprised for a second, before collecting himself. "Oh that's..um, that's alright. Already forgotten." He tried to smile but it didn't reach his eyes.  
The truth was, he hadn't expected Blaine to remember or even consider the fact that Kurt might have gotten offended by his boyfriend's mocking words. He was slightly impressed by Blaine's compassion.  
_"But that's all it is,_" Kurt decided quietly. "_He's just being polite for a second before he goes back to being the cocky golden boy of McKinley High. Don't get your hopes up, Hummel."_  
Blaine nodded. "Right. Okay, then. Well, I'll see you in glee club." He flashed Kurt a bright grin that made the latter catch his breath and nod stiffly before Blaine turned around and proceeded to his first class.  
As he walked, Blaine reflected on the possibility of Kurt winning the soloist spot for Regionals.  
"_That would be uncomfortable,_" he thought. "_Even though Kurt's performance was brilliant, I think if Mercedes won, it wouldn't be so awkward."_  
But he knew it would be really complicated too, for the whole group, if they had an African-American girl singing lead beside him and Rachel for a mostly white audience.  
He sighed, hating how society made it so hard to just be yourself sometimes.  
In the end, Mr. Schue would be the one to decide.

But it turned out that afternoon when the kids in New Directions assembled in the choir room, they found their instructor sitting in a chair at the front of the room, his expression grim.  
"Mr. Schue, have you made your decision?" Rachel asked as she sat primly beside Blaine. "Who are we singing with?"  
"Rachel, I'm sorry," Mr. Schuester sighed, running a hand over the back of his neck. "I'm having a problem with one of my students and it's going to take me a little longer to consider all of the auditions." The man looked around the room with his kind blue eyes. "Can I ask that you guys be patient?"  
"What's wrong, Mr. Schue?" Mercedes demanded. "Who needs help?"  
But the choir director shook his head, replying dryly, "I can't discuss this here. It's a private matter."  
Silence fell over the group for a moment. Kurt and Blaine shared a glance over the top of Rachel's head but both they both looked away quickly when Mr. Schue spoke again.  
"In the meantime, let's practice some high notes, okay, everyone?"

Blaine drove Rachel home that day, then turned around and headed towards Eli's house.  
His pulse quickened at the prospect of seeing his boyfriend and getting away from Rachel for a few hours. She had been prattling nonstop on the drive from school about how anxious she was to know who would be singing lead with them at Regionals but at the same time she'd also been relieved that Mr. Schuester was taking more time to consider the options.  
"I think Tina could be a nice addition," Rachel had mused while Blaine drove down their neighborhood with a strained expression on his face. "I mean, her voice is dangerously close to resembling mine, even though she doesn't have my captivating stage presence or commanding aura. But at least, she's not stronger-pitched than me. Mercedes, on the other hand, is more of a risk and.."  
Blaine felt a relief of his own now as he maneuvered his Sentra down the freeway, leaving his sister and her insufferable arrogance behind.

When he arrived at Eli's house, he was met at the door by his incredibly handsome yet tired-looking boyfriend.  
"Is everything okay?" Blaine asked after Eli had led him in and given him a quick peck on the lips.  
"Yeah," Eli said like everything was obviously okay and proceeded to take Blaine's hand and lead him up the stairs to his bedroom.  
Blaine felt his skin tingling, though he did his best not to appear ridiculously eager as Eli shut his bedroom door and wrapped his hands around Blaine's waist, pressing their lips together in a warm, hard kiss.  
Blaine traced the outline of Eli's left hipbone while a lazy smile played across his lips. He felt sticky and disoriented, his hazel eyes still clouded over in the afterglow of what they'd just done, but as Blaine waited for his heartbeat to slow, he couldn't help but think that waiting to have sex with his boyfriend had been worth it after so long.  
"I missed you," he mumbled serenely.  
He felt Eli's fingers in his hair. "Well, we've made up for it, alright," Eli answered in a grainy voice that made Blaine's stomach twist again with desire.  
"God, is it possible to want someone so bad?" Blaine wondered. Sometimes it made him nervous to think about how head-over-heels he already was, even though he and Eli had only been going out for a little over five months. He was already craving him touch, even though they had just been intimate. "Am I too needy?"  
A sharp creaking noise echoed from downstairs then and Eli's fingers were suddenly out of Blaine's hair, the warmth of his body gone, as well.  
"My parents!" Eli exclaimed, leaping off the bed and reaching for the pair of jeans that he'd discarded on the floor. "Crap! They're home early."  
Blaine rolled off the bed, as well, and tried to hide the disappointment from his face as he watched Eli's mannerisms change completely. All of a sudden, he wasn't the same boy who'd been pressing wet kisses to the side of Blaine's neck, sweeping his strong hands down Blaine's spine, and telling Blaine how hot he was making him feel. All of a sudden, Eli was just a nervous wreck. And it made Blaine feel guilty.  
"_Maybe we should've gone to my house, even with Rachel there,_" he considered as he pulled on his t-shirt and black jeans. "_At least, if we'd been caught, it wouldn't be as bad. Eli's parents don't even know he's gay!"_  
"Blaine, come on," Eli's voice interrupted his thoughts as he stood, holding the bedroom door open and motioning towards the hallway.  
Blaine nodded mutely and followed Eli down the stairs to the living room where Mrs. Johnson, Eli's heavily made-up mother, was sitting on the sofa, taking off her shoes.  
Blaine noticed Eli's father still standing in the foyer, wearing a navy blue suit, holding a newspaper in his hands and peering at the front page as though he was just noticing it then.  
"Eli?" Mrs. Johnson exclaimed as she caught sight of Eli and Blaine descending the stairs slowly. "What have you-"  
She paused for a moment and her brow furrowed. "Blaine, is it? I'm sorry, it's been so long since Eli has had one of his classmates over, I've forgotten your name.."  
"Umm, yes, my-my name is Blaine," Blaine replied quickly. "I think we met once, Mrs. Johnson, at the Thanksgiving play our school had last year."  
Mrs. Johnson nodded slowly, still seeming unsure. "Yes, I suppose that's right. How are you?"  
"Fine, thank you," Blaine tried to smile comfortably.  
"Your sister was the lead in the play, wasn't she?" Mrs. Johnson inquired. "I think I remember now. Her name is Rebecca?"  
"Rachel."  
"Oh, right."  
Blaine shifted awkwardly. Eli had moved to turn on the television and Mr. Johnson was now heading towards the living room.  
"Well, I should go."  
"Oh no! You should stay for dinner, right, honey?" Mrs. Johnson turned to glance at her husband who seemed just as confused by Blaine's presence as she had been only a moment ago.  
"Oh, uh..yes," Mr. Johnson said hesitantly. "You're a friend of Blaine's?"  
Blaine swallowed. "Yes, we're in history together."  
"Blaine and I were working on an essay," Eli spoke up then for the first time, his voice indifferent.

Dinner with Eli's parents was weird.  
Mrs. Johnson made Blaine call his parents and let him know where he was. Fortunately, Rachel answered so the awkwardness wasn't so bad. But it was still strange for Blaine, seeing Eli sitting with his back straight, stiff as a board between his parents, and barely speaking over clam chowder and crusty supper rolls.  
Blaine knew it was a mistake, hooking up with Eli at his house, because it was clear that he was now worried that his parents would suspected something. And this knowledge had Blaine feeling incredibly guilty.  
Afterwards, when he said goodnight to Eli outside his front door, Blaine mouthed, "I love you", without getting the usual response and a part of him couldn't really blame Eli.  
Instead of whispering the words back, he just mumbled, "I'll see you on Friday," and closed the door, leaving Blaine to drive home with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Blaine found Rachel sitting at the dining room table when he walked into their house an hour later. She was bent over an issue of Backstage Magazine, already in her fluffy pink pajamas and matching slippers.  
"Hey," she said, lifting her head at the sound of movement in the foyer. "Mom and Dad aren't too happy right now. They said you weren't allowed to go to Eli's."  
Blaine kicked off his shoes and wordlessly made his way to the staircase.  
"Blaine?" Rachel called, standing up and approaching her stepbrother. "What's the matter?"  
Blaine paused on the third step, debating whether or not to answer honestly. "Oh what the hell?" he thought. "It looks like I'm not going to win tonight either way."  
Swallowing thickly, he said, "It's Eli.. Things weren't so great."  
Rachel frowned. "Why? What happened?"  
Blaine lowered his voice, subconsciously. "We were in his room and I thought things were fine, then his parents came home early-"  
"Oh my god! They didn't catch you guys doing it, did they?" Rachel exclaimed in a scandalized whisper, her brown eyes widening.  
Blaine sighed. "No, Rachel, nothing like that, thankfully. But later, Eli got all weird and barely spoke to me.."  
Blaine hesitated, finding it embarrassing but continuing anyway, "I said I loved him but he didn't say it back."  
To his surprise, Rachel's gaze softened and she reached out to stroke or his arm. "Blaine, he was probably just nervous. I know Eli's crazy about you but he's just scared."  
For some reason, Blaine wasn't as convinced of this as he usually was. "I know," he mumbled.  
Rachel was about to say something else but in that second, they heard a woman's voice at the top of the stairs say, "Blaine!" and both looked up to see Blaine's mother standing in her night robe with arms folded tightly over her chest and expression grim.  
"We need to talk, son."  
Blaine nodded to his mother, exacting his arm from Rachel's gentle grip and ascending the stairs with dragging feet. He didn't even care about the lecture he'd get for disobeying his mother's wishes. It didn't seem like things could get much worse that evening.

Blaine rubbed a hand over his eyes, struggling not to yawn as his World Lit teacher droned on about War and Peace. He hadn't gotten much sleep the last two nights and now that it was Friday, Blaine couldn't wait for the last bell to ring so he could go home and crash on his bed, most likely passing out in a caterpillar type of hibernation for hours.  
Unfortunately, he still had lunch and two more classes after World Lit.  
"Alright, class," Mrs. Bentley raised her voice then and Blaine's head snapped up from where he'd had it on his arm. The thin woman in black pumps and a faded brown dress walked to her desk and picked up a stack of papers that she began handing out to the students at the front of each aisle. "Here is the rubric for the next project. You'll be assigned a partner and choose one text from any of two novels we've discussed; The Count of Monte Cristo or War and Peace. You'll have to decide whether to do an analytical project or a creative one. If you choose creative, you'll interpret the text through any form of expression; that being poetry, lyrics, photography or even film. Research for the analytical project will depend on you going to the library.."  
A girl sitting next to Blaine raised her hand, asking, "Will we get to choose our partners?"  
"No, Lucy," Mrs. Bentley replied, shaking her head. "I will do that."  
The girl frowned and Blaine mirrored her expression. He didn't want to work with a partner when he felt like crap cooked over a hot flame.  
All he wanted to do was go lie down somewhere warm and comfy..  
"Sandy, you will work with Janice," Mrs. Bentley began announcing the pairs. "Steven with Lewis, Tina with Mike and Kurt will work with Blaine."  
"Huh?" Blaine's head snapped up again and his eyes widened with more energy than they had all day.  
This class was the only one he had with two of his glee club members. Tina he didn't mind, and usually Kurt was easy to politely ignore, but now with things as complicated like they were at the moment, he wasn't so sure..  
Blaine groaned as he caught sight of Kurt standing from his place next to Tina a few desks away. Why did everything have to be so hard all the time?  
The slender brunet wore a similar expression as he made his way over to Blaine. It was clear that Kurt wasn't looking forward to working him either.  
"Hey," Kurt said softly, approaching Blaine's desk and swaying a little awkwardly, clutching the project worksheet to his chest. "Do you want to come over to my house today to work on this or do you just want me to start on my own?"  
Blaine noticed Kurt's cheeks flush red and for a moment he thought it was the most endearing thing ever. Then he shook the thought from his mind and cleared his throat, embarrassed. "Umm, no, that's okay. I'll come over."  
Kurt gave a stiff nod. "Okay. I'll see you after school then."  
The lunch bell rang and Tina appeared next to Kurt.  
"Hey, ready to go?" she asked him jollily. "Hey, Blaine," she added as an afterthought.  
"Hi, Tina." Blaine stood up and followed them out of the classrom. He heard Tina gushing as she linked her arm with Kurt's and they walked away, "I'm so excited to work with Mike! He's so cute, don't you think?"  
Kurt glanced over his shoulder and gave Blaine a shy smile, which Blaine mirrored before turning and heading towards the opposite end of the hallway.  
He decided to find Eli since they hadn't had a chance to phone each other since Wednesday and every second that ticked by, Blaine wondered if he was mad at him.  
"_Not that I blame him,"_ Blaine thought as he meandered through the stream of students. "But I want to make it right."  
"Hey!" Blaine said with a relieved smile when he saw Eli standing next to his locker, stuffing two text books inside and pocketing a wallet.  
"How are you?"  
Eli raised his head and gave Blaine a casual shrug. "Great," he murmured.  
Blaine leaned against the locker next to Eli's. "You don't sound like it."  
Eli shut his locker and touched Blaine's arm briefly as he started walking towards the cafeteria. "Let's go to lunch," he said quickly. "I'm starving."  
But Blaine grabbed his arm. "Are you mad at me?" he whispered.  
"No," Eli said immediately, his tone light.  
"Are you sure? Is everything okay.." Blaine hesitated. "With your mom and dad?"  
Eli's face remained impassive and Blaine had the sinking suspicion that he was lying. "Of course. Come on."  
"Okay," Blaine muttered, dropping his boyfriend's arm and walking beside him with an unconvinced frown on his face. While he could understand how upset Eli might be with him, Blaine didn't like how indifferent he was acting because he hoped that they could at least be honest with each other.  
_"That's the whole point in being in a relationship, isn't it? Well, that and having someone to make out with."_

"Wow, you look like crap!" Rachel said when she plopped down in the chair across from Blaine and Eli at their lunch table.  
Blaine glared at her. "I haven't gotten much sleep."  
"Then we should stop by the Lima Bean," Rachel suggested brightly. "Stock up on caffeine. We still have to practice our vocals later."  
Blaine sighed. "I can't. I have to go to Kurt's house to work on our project for World Lit.."  
Before he could finish, Rachel and Eli both raised their heads, gaping at him.  
"Kurt?" Eli demanded, suddenly his voice registering some form of emotion besides indifference. "You've been paired up with Kurt? Can't you ask your teacher to reassign you another partner?"  
"Why would I do that?" Blaine challenged, turning to examine his boyfriend's expression. He wondered again if he was seriously jealous of Kurt.  
But Rachel jumped in before Eli could respond.  
"He's already trying to disrupt our dynamic in glee, Blaine! Now he's being paired up with you and who knows? Maybe this is his plan to come between us; to cozy up to you and then turn you against me. Think about it, he could start suggesting you guys form some type of boy band." Her face contorted into a look of downright disgust.  
Blaine almost laughed. "Rachel, that's silly. It's just a stupid project. It'll soon and I don't see what the big deal is."  
Eli scowled and shoved a forkful of cold cafeteria pasta into his mouth. He didn't speak to Blaine again for the rest of the afternoon apart from saying goodbye to him in the parking lot.  
Rachel was in a similar state of disappointment with her stepbrother and sulked the whole drive home. Once again, Blaine was grateful for the time spent away from her, even if that meant going to the Hummel home.

Reluctantly, Blaine rang the doorbell, then stepped back as his gut twisted with nervousness.  
It had been several years since he'd been on that street, on that doorstep, ringing the same bell. The last time, he'd probably been smiling, excited to see his best friend, get him to come out and play badminton or ride their bikes on the street corner. Now it felt odd, remembering all of these things.  
"_They're so insignificant, aren't they?_" he wondered.  
The door swung open then and Kurt appeared, his lips forming a tight grin. "Hey, Blaine. Come in."  
"Hey," Blaine said as he side-stepped past Kurt, trying not to gawk at the way Kurt's plain white short-sleeved shirt clung to his lean frame. It was the tightest thing Blaine had seen him in besides those silly pants he always wore. He had to admit, though, that Kurt's chest looked strong through the shirt's transparent material and his arms look good too..  
"_Wait, what?"_ Blaine chastised himself, flushing hotly as he followed Kurt to the kitchen. "_You have a boyfriend. Stop!"_  
Blaine almost gasped when he saw Mr. Hummel sitting at the rectangular table, reading an auto care magazine.  
He'd known he'd be there, of course, but it was still surreal, seeing the man who had driven him and Kurt to football games and trips to the ice cream parlor when they were little.  
And there had been time when Blaine had wished Burt was his father too.  
"Blaine!" Burt Hummel declared when he glanced up and caught sight of him standing next to his son. "Wow.. You look great. It's been so long."  
He stood up and approached Blaine who stuck out his hand, unsure of the correct greeting for that unusual moment. To his shock, however, Kurt's dad pulled him into a fierce hug, patting his back before pulled away.  
"It's good to see you too, sir," Blaine said, his eyes drifting to Kurt who had moved towards the refrigerator.  
"Wow, it's been so long," Mr. Hummel said again. "I remember when you used to come here every Saturday to watch cartoons with Kurt, and then I'd make you guys pancakes with lots of chocolate. Do you remember that, Kurt?" He glanced over his shoulder at his son who stood, pouring apple juice into two glasses on the countertop.  
"Uhuh," Kurt replied distractedly.  
Blaine could sense how uncomfortable he was too and wrapped his arms around himself tightly. At that moment, he thought perhaps he and Kurt were sharing a common emotion, even if it was just mild embarrassment at Burt's enthusiasm.  
"How's your mom? I heard she got remarried," Mr. Hummel continued, sitting back down in his chair but still looking at Blaine with interest.  
"Yeah, she's good. Mr. Berry is really nice."  
"That's good."  
Kurt walked over to Blaine with two glasses of apple juice, handing him one and saying to his father, "We're going to go work on our project now."  
"Alright. I'll be right here. You're welcome to stay for dinner, Blaine."  
"Oh, umm.." Blaine saw Kurt biting his lip out of the corner of his eye and guessed that it wasn't a good idea. "Thanks but my parents want me home early."  
"Okay" Burt said, his smile falling a bit. "Well, don't be a stranger."

Kurt led Blaine down a narrow flight of steps to his basement room. He hoped Blaine wouldn't get on his case too much about the lack of decent lighting or the fact that it was sort of drafty down there.  
"Not everyone can afford to live in a pretty two-story house with central air," Kurt mused bitterly as he set his and Blaine's empty glasses on his nightstand and turned to face his privileged classmate.  
"So how do you want to do this? Creatively or analytically?"  
"Umm.." Blaine hoped Kurt wouldn't put up much of a fuss if he happened to disagree with his ideas. "Creatively? I was thinking we could write a song or a poem from the perspective of Edmund Dante."  
"We could write from Mercedes's perspective too," Kurt said hopefully, sitting down on his neatly made bed.  
Blaine tried not to sound rude as he answered, "We could.. It's just that she isn't as prominent a character as Dante. I mean, he gives us much more to work with. In the end, Mercedes was just in love with a man who was wronged."  
Blaine sat down next to Kurt and pulled his messenger bag from off his shoulder, setting it on the floor.  
"I guess you're right," Kurt sighed heavily. "But a song might be too difficult to write without sounding cliché, deliberate or totally inappropriate, don't you think? I mean, Mrs. Bentley will see right through us if we try to rhyme the text just to make it fit."  
Blaine pulled out his notebook. "We could write a free-verse poem. That doesn't need to rhyme and we could read some epic ones to help with the structure. I think Robert Frost and Walt Whitman are good in that way."  
"Okay," Kurt said, standing up and going to his desk in the corner, picking up his worn copy of The Count of Monte Cristo and his English text book and bringing them to the bed.  
He sat down next to Blaine and for the next hour or so, they researched poems and marked off phrases in their assigned novel.  
When it was time for Blaine to leave, both he and Kurt had to admit quietly to themselves that the time spent together hadn't been so bad, given that neither had felt the need to mention Rachel Berry or glee club.  
"_Maybe we can get along,_" Blaine thought as Kurt walked him to the door at around five o'clock. "_As homework partners, that is."_  
He smiled politely. "I'll see you on Monday."  
"Yeah, I'll work on the first stanza this weekend."  
"Cool. Well, tell your dad I said bye."  
"I will. Goodnight, Blaine."  
Kurt closed the door after Blaine had left and he heard the soft rumble of an engine starting as Blaine pulled out of the Hummel's driveway. Kurt turned to see his father standing in the hallway that led to the small living room, still holding the magazine in his hands.  
"Damn, you boys grow up fast," Burt said, his eyes misting over a little with nostalgia. "Blaine's always been a sweet kid."  
Kurt sighed heavily. "I think he's full of himself now." He started making his way towards the basement steps.  
"Is that so?" Burt asked with a smile tugging at his lips. He knew Kurt could be narcissistic sometimes when his armor was at risk of crumbling but he knew too that Kurt needed a friend like Blaine; someone who he could relate to in a way that was often misunderstood. He knew he had Tina and Mercedes and Burt was grateful that Kurt wasn't completely alone during school, but he hoped that his son would patch things up with Blaine because what they had once had was rare and it would be a shame to forget about it just because they were a little older.


	6. Chapter 6

Glee does not belong to me.

* * *

_I seen you around for a long, long time, ya_

_I really remember you when you drank my wine._

_Why can't we be friends?_

_Why can't we be friends?_

_- _"Why can't we be friends", Wa_r_

"No, Blaine!" Kurt giggled uproariously as he and Blaine sat in his bedroom, putting the finishing touches on their literature project. "Those miniature packaged 'baguettes' do not count as authentic French cuisine. They're basically plain old dinner rolls twisted to look like a poor misshapen version of a baguette."

"Maybe so, but they're yummy!" Blaine smirked from where he was sitting at Kurt's desk. "I can eat an entire bag all by myself."

Kurt shook his head and lay back on his mattress where he'd been sprawled with their notebooks and other materials. "My hand is cramping," he sighed, gazing up at the beige ceiling.

Blaine rose from Kurt's chair and stretched. "Yeah, I think we're pretty much done."

Upon glancing up, Kurt couldn't help noticing how Blaine's shirt rolled up at the hem when he raised his arms in the air, displaying a toned, slightly tan stomach.

Kurt's eyes traveled over Blaine's abs for a long minute before he realized where his gaze was leading, blushed and hurriedly flipped a page in his textbook.

Blaine caught sight of the rosy coloring on Kurt's cheeks and wondered what the other boy was thinking.

It used to be that they could say whatever they felt to each other.

"But that was a long time ago," Blaine thought. "Back when we didn't have anything to be embarrassed about."

A knock on the door broke through Blaine's reverie and both he and Kurt turned their heads to see Kurt's step mom, Finn's mother, Carol, standing in the doorway, a kitchen towel draped over her right arm.

"Dinner is almost ready," she told them. "Blaine, you're welcome to stay."

"Umm," Blaine was about to refuse but to his surprise, Kurt slammed his textbook

shut and rolled off the bed, announcing, "Great! I'm starving. Come on, Blaine."

Hesitantly, Blaine followed Kurt and Carol downstairs to the kitchen where Finn and Burt were already piling their plates up with pieces of roasted chicken, golden brown potatoes, string beans and corn at the table.

"Dad, you're supposed to be eating the whole wheat ones!" Kurt chided his father as he saw him placing a white dinner roll onto his plate.

Burt glared at his son and muttered, "One won't kill me," before putting the roll back in the basket.

Kurt headed to the counter as Blaine and Carol sat down, returning a minute later with a small round plate on which a brown roll sat primly. He placed it in front of his dad and took the chair next to Blaine.

"How's the project coming, boys?" Burt asked between sips of his water.

"Great," Kurt replied brightly. "We're almost done."

"Are you still into football, Blaine?" Burt asked unexpectedly, gazing at Blaine with interest.

From across the table, Finn frowned, curious, despite himself. He always thought Blaine annoyingly optimistic and somewhat of a showoff. Now he wondered how well Burt knew him and whether or not Blaine could play football as well as he could sing.

"Just what I need," Finn grumbled internally. "If he's good at football then it's

just one other thing I'll have to compete with. But no…" Finn thought as he took a third helping of potatoes. "If he were interested in joining the team, he would've

done so already. Maybe he's just okay, but not super good. Maybe it's just a hobby." Finn smirked with a little more confidence as he tuned back into the conversation.

"Yeah, I'm a big Buckeyes fan," Blaine told Burt, making the older man's face light up even more.

"Really?" Burt asked. "Because there's a game at six if you want to stay and watch it with us."

Blaine glanced in Kurt's direction briefly but the other boy didn't seem to be paying attention as he cut his chicken into small little squares.

"Sure. That'd be great."

Blaine stood up to help Kurt and Carol clear the table when everyone had finished eating.

"Honey, you don't have to do that!" Carol exclaimed when Blaine rose from the table and followed after Kurt to the sink with his and Burt's dirty dishes.

Blaine shrugged. "It's fine."

He met Kurt at the sink and dropped the dishes inside, standing back as Kurt turned on the faucet.

"Are you watching the game with us?" Blaine asked tentatively.

Kurt rolled his eyes, making him smile unexpectedly. "Of course not. I can't stand football."

Blaine chuckled. "Yeah, you used to complain all the time about getting dirty. But I remember you were actually a pretty good kicker."

Kurt gave Blaine a weird look; a mixture of resentment and surprise. He couldn't believe Blaine remembered that far back. The last time they'd played football together was in Kurt's background with his dad when they were nine. "That was a long time ago," was all Kurt could think to say in response to the unexpected memory.

Blaine pressed his lips together, regretting having brought up the whole matter.

"Yeah, it was." He handed Kurt an empty glass and turned towards the living room

where Burt was turning on the television.

Kurt watched Blaine sit down next to Finn on the couch and turned his eyes away from him. In the pit of his stomach, Kurt felt a pang of regret.

They presented their project on Wednesday in Mrs. Bentley's class without much problem as neither found that they were particularly nervous. Afterwards, Mrs. Bentley even gave them a compliment, which wasn't customary for the highly demanding, serious woman.

"Your lyrics were deeply emotional and appropriate," she declared, peering at the boys over the top of her wire-rimmed spectacles as they stood in front of her desk.

"Next time, I would encourage you to include a little more historical content."

"Yes, ma'am," both boys nodded. "Thank you."

They exited the classroom with cautious smiles on their faces.

"So do you think we'll get an A?" Kurt asked Blaine dubiously.

Blaine shrugged. "The worst we'll get is a B-." He patted Kurt's shoulder awkwardly. "It was cool working with you."

Kurt mustered up a more honest smile. "Yeah, it was. Do you...umm," he hesitated,

glancing around the crowded hallway for a second. "Do you want to get lunch together? I'm going to Macy's Diner with Tina."

"Oh umm, that's nice, but I'm eating lunch with Eli, so..." Blaine was taken aback by Kurt's invite but he figured that the latter was just being polite to show gratitude for the project. He could understand, though, and the disappointment on Kurt's face was momentary.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you around then," he said as Blaine nodded goodbye and turned towards the cafeteria.

Kurt began making his way over to his locker. He dug around for his mini anchor- imprinted coin bag under a stack of folders and took a second to fix a wayward strand of hair that had escaped his careful styling and drooped over his forehead.

Kurt had taped a little mirror to the inside of his locker door. The reflection caught an image that made him stop fidgeting for a moment and glance back towards the hallway. Eli was walking just a few feet behind Kurt with Brittany Pierce, a cheerleader who Kurt recognized from his algebra class. This didn't surprise Kurt, except for the fact that they were holding hands. As they reached the end of the hallway, Kurt saw from the corner of his eye Eli stop and say something to the blond in the red sweatshirt and mini skirt. Brittany pecked him on the cheek, smiled and walked away as the lunch bell rang. Kurt pulled his gaze back to his locker and kept completely still, but Eli didn't notice him as he brushed past.

A thumping rhythm began in Kurt's chest and he wondered what it could mean.

_"Surely, Eli isn't… seeing Brittany?_" He wondered, slipping his coin bag into the back pocket of his pants and shutting his locker. "That's ludicrous! Unless he's pretending to be straight, but then wouldn't Blaine know? Wait, why do I care?"

The last question was the one that concerned him the most. Why would he care if Blaine's boyfriend were sharing affectionate gestures with a girl? It was none of his business. Blaine and he weren't even friends. They had gotten a little friendly during a project they were working on together but that was it. It didn't mean they were suddenly attached at the hip again. So why was Kurt worrying about the possibility that Eli might be cheating?

"But Kurt, maybe it's nothing," Tina said to Kurt on the drive back from Macy's Diner an hour later.

Kurt had told her during the last few minutes of their lunch time about seeing Eli and Brittany in the hallway and now he was maneuvering his used Dodge down the residential street leading back to school with a nauseous feeling in his stomach. He didn't realize how much this bothered him until after he'd told Tina, but Kurt still wasn't sure why.

"Maybe she was just giving him a thank you kiss for helping her with her homework or something," Tina continued in a tone that clearly displayed how

harmless she thought Eli's behavior was.

Kurt felt a surprising twinge of annoyance at this. He suddenly wanted to be right.

"Maybe," he murmured dubiously. "But they were holding hands, Tina."

"They were?"

"Yes! I told you," Kurt reminded her impatiently.

"Sorry, I thought you meant just momentarily," Tina said, sounding surprised by the irritation in Kurt's voice.

"No, they continued holding hands until Brittany said goodbye and left."

"Oh." Tina thought for a moment. "That is weird. But Kurt, do you think it's

actually possible that Eli could be cheating on Blaine?"

Kurt exhaled sharply. "I don't know."

"I mean, why would he? Have you seen Blaine's ass?"

"Tina!" Kurt turned his head, giving her a shocked glance, and almost missed a stop sign. He braked hard, making the car behind them honk loudly.

"Sorry," he muttered, and accelerated again as they reached the turn for their school.

"I don't know what to do," Kurt said as they pulled into the parking lot in front of McKinley.

Tina unbuckled her seat belt when Kurt parked the car. "Well, I don't think you should say anything to Blaine or anyone else. If you start a rumor and it turns out Eli isn't cheating at all, then things are just going to get crazy and Blaine will hate you forever."

"I think he already does," Kurt muttered as they got out.

"What?" Tina inquired, not catching the muffled words.

Kurt decided to ask another question. "But what if I am right? Then it won't be

fair to Blaine because he's been cool with the whole project thing, and I feel bad already-"

"Kurt..." Tina stopped and looked at him desperately. "You're just going to cause trouble if you tell anyone. Blaine is not going to thank you."

Kurt sighed. "I know that, Tina. But-"

"Let's not talk about this anymore, okay?" Tina interrupted as they started towards the double doors. "At least, until you know the truth."

Kurt nodded wordlessly and followed her inside. He felt defeated, for some reason, and guilty too.

"Mr. Schue, have you finally decided who the third person who will be sharing the stage with Blaine and I will be?" Rachel Berry inquired that afternoon in Glee club with a hint of forced impatience in her tone.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue," Mercedes Jones said from behind her as the choir director took a seat at the front of the room. "We've been waiting all week to hear back from you."

Mr. Schuester looked just as tired as he'd looked the week before when he'd told the Glee club members that he needed more time to decide on a winner for their competition. Nevertheless, he gave a weary smile and answered, "Yes, Mercedes, Rachel, I have decided on a third soloist."

There was a collective intake of breath as everyone waited for the announcement.

"I think Kurt should have a chance to showcase his talent alongside Rachel and Blaine. Perhaps we'll have another such competition if we win Regionals and start preparing for Nationals." Mr. Schue smiled as the room erupted in cheers and Kurt sighed in relief.

He couldn't believe Mr. Schue had really uttered his name and not Tina's or Mercedes's or Puck's or Finn's. He couldn't believe it but now Mercedeswas leaning over to hug him and Tina was whispering "Congratulations, sweetie" in his ear and giving him a peck on the cheek, and... Rachel was glancing over her shoulder at him with her arms folded resolutely over her chest, trying not to scowl as she nodded and muttered "Congrats, Kurt" in a stiff tone. And Blaine was...

Blaine was standing up from his chair next to Rachel and ascending the risers to

where Kurt sat, his blue eyes wide as Blaine approached and squeezed his shoulder warmly.

"Great job, Kurt." There was a genuine smile on Blaine's face that made Kurt's throat tighten. He never noticed before how sweet and youthful Blaine looked when he smiled.

"Thanks."

"Do you want to join Rachel and me for a congratulatory coffee at the Lima Bean?"

"Umm..." Kurt glanced at Rachel who had turned her face away, flicking her hair irritably. "Sure."

After Glee practice, Kurt followed Blaine and Rachel in his Dodge to the coffeehouse on Market Street.

It was packed with young people freshly out from school but Kurt was glad that none of his friends had followed them there from McKinley. That would've been too awkward, given that Kurt was already uncomfortable, standing in line at the register next to Blaine.

Rachel rattled off an order to the cashier and flounced off to one of the tables near the window, leaving Kurt and Blaine to share a steady glance between them.

"Listen, Kurt," Blaine suddenly said, looking serious but sincere. "I know this is going to be... Weird." He stumbled over the last word before continuing with more confidence. "But I promise I won't let Rachel bully you. She knows you're

talented and just as capable at helping our group win Regionals as she is. I think that's why she feels threatened by you, because she knows that you can be such a crowd pleaser if you really work to stand out, but I'll let her know that you have a say in how we perform too."

He gave Kurt a gentle smile.

"Blaine, I-" Kurt blurted out before catching himself. "I appreciate that."

Blaine nodded and turned to give his order to the cashier.

Kurt dropped his gaze, embarrassed. He wanted so desperately in that moment to tell Blaine about Eli and Brittany, even if he was wrong about their intentions together. He didn't want to feel bad about someone he barely knew anymore but that's how it felt; like he was a coward. As he and Blaine joined Rachel at the table near the window and fell into a conversation about Broadway and show tunes, Kurt began to feel even guiltier because he was actually having fun with the two people who he had spent years envying. And it was so unfair! He should hate Blaine but he didn't, Kurt admitted to himself for the first time. Blaine was cocky sometimes and a little naïve, as well, but surprisingly sweet.

As Kurt sipped his latte and listened to Rachel gush about Barbra Streisand and Patti Lapone, and Blaine rolled his charming hazel eyes while he murmured sarcastic comments between sips of his hot chocolate, Kurt realized that he didn't want to see Blaine get his heart broken, no matter what Tina said.

He was going to find out if Eli was really betraying his former friend.

* * *

thank you to my new beta for all your help!


	7. Chapter 7

_Should I write myself out of the history books_  
_And mark a place in time for every chance you took?_  
_Don't get me wrong, I know you've got your life in place._  
_I've yet to take the hint, someday I'm sure_  
_I'll get the picture and stop waiting up."_  
_-"coffee shop soundtrack", All Time Low_

Kurt's heart drummed in his chest, a nervous rhythm he'd never felt when Blaine had been around before. Yet, now he stood at his locker, casting surreptitious glances at the boy whose happiness he was just about to ruin and he couldn't get rid of the nauseous feeling in his stomach.  
Despite Tina's opinion about him telling Blaine that his boyfriend was possibly cheating on him, Kurt thought that he should.  
"It's only fair. If I were in the same situation, I'd certainly want to know."  
As Kurt watched Blaine be approached by his boyfriend at his locker, the two sharing a quiet conversation that seemed obviously intimate due to their bodies being turned towards each other, their eyes meeting before rapidly falling to the floor, Kurt wondered reluctantly if Blaine loved Eli. The thought made him even more conscious of what he was planning to do and he was greatly disturbed.  
"Hey, dude!"  
Kurt's head snapped up and he held back a sigh of relief at the sight of his stepbrother walking towards him.  
"Oh, hi, Finn."  
"I need your help with this French paper before class starts, man. I only got half of the verbs done."  
Kurt rolled his eyes but took the sheet of unfinished homework that Finn held out to him. When he glanced back up, it was only in time to see Blaine and Eli's retreating forms as they disappeared in the direction of the staircase.

"Rachel wants to stop by Between the Sheets after Glee practice, do you want to come?"  
Blaine glanced sideways at Eli hopefully as they walked up the stairs to where their science class was; the only class they shared together.  
Eli's gait was brisk as he held one strap of his backpack and he barely looked at Blaine as he mumbled, "I can't. My dad wants me to take some files to his Ashbury office."  
Blaine sighed quietly. "Fine, it's just-"  
"What?" Eli demanded, stopping outside Mr. Johnson's classroom. The door was shut, as they still had a few minutes before the other class let out. There were few kids in the hall so Blaine stepped closer to Eli, speaking in a low, yet emotional voice.  
"We haven't hung out so much lately and to be honest, you've been acting weird."  
Eli raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I've been acting weird? How about you, suddenly spending all your free time at that dweeb, Kurt's house? I'm sick of hearing about you guys' stupid project and how many Broadway songs he knows! Blaine, he's an egotistical little nerd who thinks he's better than everyone else! And you never liked him before, so what's the deal now?"  
Blaine couldn't help but scoff at this in surprise, "Are you seriously jealous of Kurt? You're my boyfriend!"  
"Shh! Blaine!" Eli's gaze snapped to a passing student and Blaine stepped aside, pressing his back against the wall instead.  
"You're being immature."  
"Yeah, well, it's only because you're acting like a spoiled little kid."  
"What?"  
"Yeah."  
Eli turned his face away, glaring at the other end of the hall, and Blaine looked down at the tiled floor.  
"Come on, Eli," he said after a minute. "Just come with us. We'll take Rachel home early and stop by the park. My parents might not be home till five-thirty."  
"Maybe I'm tired," Eli muttered quietly.  
Blaine sighed. "Sure."  
The bell rang and the door swung open, letting out a stream of students shouldering their backpacks. As soon as he found an entrance in the crowd, Eli slipped past Blaine without a second glance.

"Maybe he's having trouble with his folks again," Rachel said to Blaine that afternoon as they perused the aisles of Between the Sheets, looking for new music to try on their baby grand piano back home.  
"But why won't he talk to me about it, Rachel?" Blaine persisted. "He's always been scared that his dad would find out about us, but Eli's never shut me out like this before."  
Rachel didn't say anything and Blaine riffled through some jazz tunes before joining her in the (pop) music section.  
"I don't think…" Blaine paused. He was about to say that he didn't think Eli loved him anymore but decided not to expose as much emotion in front of his sister, not wanting her to think he was a crybaby or a needy freak or something. If he were being completely honest, the thought of seeming that way terrified him. "I don't think he likes me like he used to," Blaine murmured at last.  
Rachel glanced up, surprised. "Now, that's silly. Eli is crazy about you. You guys have just hit a rough patch, that's all. He's lying to his folks and he's scared witless. Don't tell me you don't understand that."  
"I do!" Blaine sighed, frustrated. "I know I've had it easy, compared to him, but I just wish he'd be honest with me. I miss talking to him. It seems like all we do now when we're together is make out for five minutes and then say goodbye."  
Rachel bit her lip. "I think maybe-"  
But they were both startled by someone clearing their throat nearby and glanced up to see a boy about their age standing on the opposite side of the rows of songbooks.  
He was lithe and his posture suggested extreme confidence as his brown eyes twinkled mischievously. "Sorry, can you pass me that James Brown album, please?"  
He spoke only to Blaine.  
"Umm, sure." Blaine's cheeks flushed as he fumbled to find the album that was right in front of him. He quickly passed it over to the boy, not knowing why he was feeling so awkward all of a sudden. "_I'm such a dork,_" Blaine thought. "_Maybe that's why Eli's getting tired."_  
"You look familiar," Rachel said suddenly, frowning at the boy across from them. "Do you go to Carmel High?"  
The boy grinned, looking amused. "Uh, no. I go to Dalton Academy."  
Rachel's eyes widened. "Dalton? You mean-"  
"I'm with the Warblers," the boy stated, obviously confirming what Rachel had been fearing. She'd recognized a fellow competitor. "My name's Sebastian." He stuck out his hand to her.  
"Rachel," Rachel said stiffly, shaking his hand for a minute before immediately dropping it. She flashed Blaine a warning look before murmuring, "I'm going to go pay for this. Excuse me."  
Blaine watched her walk towards the cashier, and then slowly turned to Sebastian, not wanting to seem rude, despite the fact that the boy obviously made his sister uncomfortable and he was already in a low mood. "Could this day get any worse?" he thought as he introduced himself. "I'm Blaine, Rachel's stepbrother."  
Sebastian beamed. "I know who you are. I saw your performance of Tiny Dancer at Sectionals. Your voice is really... Romantic."  
Blaine didn't miss the boy's hesitation over the last word and the flirty, yet timid, smile he gave him. Blaine didn't know how to respond in this situation. It had been a long time since he'd been hit on by a guy who wasn't his boyfriend and the feeling he got was one of embarrassment. "Umm, thanks," he finally said lamely. "But Rachel's the real star."  
"I beg to differ. She is pretty amazing and bold but you're really captivating. I'd love to practice my vocals with you sometime. I'm a tenor."  
"Oh, I don't think that's such a good idea." Blaine glanced surreptitiously in Rachel's direction but Sebastian didn't miss it.  
He smirked. "Right. We're rival show choirs, I get it. But we can still hang out from time to time, right? That's allowed?"  
He was obviously not taking no for an answer.  
Blaine hesitated before nodding once. "Sure. We can go out for coffee sometime."  
He turned away then, quickly murmuring goodbye and ducking his head as he went to join Rachel at the register. The boy, Sebastian, grinned as he watched Blaine's shy demeanor as he and his sister made a speedy exit out the door.

"Maybe you should call him," Rachel suggested as she and Blaine walked through the door of their house, carrying their new purchases from the music store.  
As much as Blaine liked that idea, though, he wasn't so optimistic that a phone conversation with Eli would go well. "Maybe tomorrow."  
"Come on, Blaine!" Rachel paused as she opened the coat closet and started unbuttoning her autumn red coat. "He has to know you're not going to take this silent treatment crap any longer. You guys aren't five years old."  
"Yes, Rachel, but forcing Eli into a conversation-" Blaine began.  
"Will be the adult thing to do," Rachel cut in. "It will show him that you'd rather work this out like a mature person than run away like a wimp."  
Blaine reflected on Rachel's words for a second. Of course, Rachel was known for being pushy but he had to admit that at the moment, she did have a point. Eli had been stringing him on a leash for days now and he wasn't about to make it a habit. He didn't want to be known as a wimp in his own relationship.  
"You know, you're right," he said finally, stripping off his jacket and hanging it up before Rachel closed the closet. "I'm going to call him after dinner."

"I'm sorry but Eli's not here right now," Mrs. Johnson told Blaine over the phone when he called Eli's house after a hasty supper with his family.  
Rachel had joined Leroy and Bianca in front of the television after finishing her potato casserole and Blaine could see her from the kitchen doorway, giving him concerned glances between commercial breaks.  
"Oh, okay," Blaine murmured, disappointed by the news that Eli's mother had just given him. "Is it alright if I call a little later?"  
He hoped she wouldn't think that was weird, for one of Eli's 'guy friends' to want to speak to him so badly, though a part of him didn't care. He was tired of pretending, even for the boy he loved.  
"Oh I think it would be too late then," Mrs. Johnson responded. "He's out on a date."  
Blaine almost dropped the phone. "A date?"  
"Yes, with Brittany Pierce, Margaret's daughter!" Mrs. Johnson exclaimed like it was the most exciting thing in the world. "She's such a pretty girl, don't you think? And funny, too."  
"Yeah, I-I agree," Blaine stammered, feeling his stomach sink. "Thanks for telling me, Mrs. Johnson. I'll- I'll talk to him later at school."  
"Alright, sweetheart. Well, good-"  
Blaine hung up without hearing the rest of Mrs. Johnson's farewell. He was sure he didn't want to be told to have a good night because it would only make him even more upset.  
Blaine glanced back towards the living room where his family was now watching the late evening news on NBC. Rachel gave him a worried look as he joined them on the sofa.  
Blaine just shook his head minutely, though, before she could ask.

"Be honest with me," Blaine whispered to Eli as he caught him outside the boys' restroom just before last period on Friday. "What's wrong?"  
Eli sighed, pulling his denim jacket on as he walked past Blaine. "Nothing's wrong, Blaine. I was just having a crappy day and my parents keep bugging me-"  
"Is that why you went out with Brittany on Wednesday?"  
Eli stopped short. "What?"  
"I called your house and your mom told me you were out on a date with Brittany Pierce."  
Eli's cheeks flushed red and Blaine's stomach turned. He was hoping Mrs. Johnson had been confused.  
"Was it really a date?" He asked quietly. "Or did you guys just hang out as friends? Tell me the truth, Eli. Was your mom mistaken?"  
Eli dropped his gaze for a second to the tiled floor. "It was a date, Blaine. I went out with Brittany so my parents would get off my case, alright?" His voice softened as he continued, "My mom's really close friends with Mrs. Pierce from our church and she suggested that we go to a movie and my dad kept belittling me about the fact that he hasn't seen me with a girl since the 8th grade so I got really nervous and said yes."  
Blaine didn't know what to say for a couple of seconds. He understood Eli's struggle with maintaining his sexuality secret from his parents, given that his mother was super religious and his dad could be controlling at times, but he was also getting concerned with the sincerity of Eli's admittance. He wondered if he was leaving anything out.  
"Was it just that one time?"  
To Blaine's disbelief and annoyance, Eli rolled his eyes. "Yes, Blaine. I only went out with her this Wednesday. We didn't kiss or anything, I promise. It's just-"  
He paused as a freshman walked by. Blaine backed up against a wall next to an empty classroom and Eli sidestepped around him.  
"It's just that it's getting harder to keep this a secret," he muttered in a low voice.  
Blaine let out a tired sigh. "Then what do you think we should do?"  
Eli looked away. "I'm not sure."  
"I told you before, I could help you come out. We could talk to your parents together. Hell, we could even bring Leroy and my mom. Maybe they could help your parents understand better-"  
"Blaine, that's not going to happen," Eli cut in. A look of frustration suddenly screwed up his face. "God, you- you think it's so easy for everyone, Blaine, and it's not!"  
"What? I don't-"  
"Yeah, you do. You act like you don't get how I can't be flaunting it like Kurt and it's so annoying. I can't do this right now. Not with my dad always reminding me how I'm coming up short with everything and my mom looking at me like I'm a disappointment."  
"So, what?" Blaine was starting to get angry. "You're going to pretend to be straight by hooking up with Brittany? How long is that going to last? What are you going to do the next time you see a boy you think is cute and want to fool around? Is he just going to be a fling to you or are you finally going to have the balls to tell your parents?"  
"That's not fair," Eli snapped, glaring in response.  
Blaine shook his head. "Maybe not, but that's how I feel; like a fling to you. I thought we were better than that."  
"God, Blaine, you're so naïve sometimes! Do you honestly think we can be the merry, out and proud couple here at McKinley? We're not Finn and Quinn or Puck and Santana. If we get caught, we'll both get beaten up, and then what good would it do to be out and proud? Do you want that? To hurt your parents like that?"  
"My parents already know about me."  
"Well, good for you. Pity it's not the same for me."  
Both boys were silent for a moment. Blaine swallowed the lump in his throat.  
"I love you."  
Eli's jaw tensed and he didn't turn his head to look at Blaine who was staring with glassy eyes at the classroom door across from them.  
"I'm sorry," Eli finally said.  
Blaine looked up and he gave him a sliver of a smile. "I really cared about you too."  
Blaine didn't respond as Eli lightly brushed a hand down the length of his arm before pulling his backpack on over his shoulder and walking away.  
He couldn't believe what was happening, how his chest could burn so badly.

"Kurt!"  
Both Kurt and Tina cringed when they heard Rachel screeching from behind them as they made their way down the steps towards the parking lot outside.  
"Kurt, have you seen Blaine?" the brunette asked as she circled them with a pile of books tucked to her chest.  
"No," Kurt said, instantly annoyed.  
"But his last class is on the same floor as yours," Rachel insisted. "And we're supposed to meet our parents at Breadsticks in fifteen minutes."  
"I haven't seen him, Rachel. Maybe he's in the auditorium," Kurt sighed.  
"I checked there already!"  
"Maybe he's with Eli," Kurt said grudgingly, just to get her to leave. He was nearing his car when Tina suddenly looked up, pointing to something to the right of the parking lot where most of the juniors parked.  
"Umm, Rachel?"  
Rachel and Kurt both turned to see what Tina was staring at. It was Blaine's car with Blaine inside it, peeling away from the school with a loud screeching of wheels, like he was angry or in a hurry to get somewhere.  
Rachel gawked with her mouth hanging open. "I can't believe he just ditched me."  
Kurt couldn't believe it either.


	8. Chapter 8

_Glee does not belong to me._

* * *

_"Well, he seemed to be broken-hearted,_  
_Something within him._  
_But the moment that _  
_I laid eyes on him,_  
_All alone on the edge of seventeen."_  
-"Edge of Seventeen", Stevie Nicks

Kurt unlocked the door of his Dodge with trepidation. He wasn't looking forward to driving Rachel Berry home but he didn't want to feel like a jerk for leaving a lady, even an annoying one like her, stranded. Tina gave him a look before trotting to her car and peeling out of the parking lot, leaving Kurt to listen to Rachel's awkward gratitude and mumble a "no problem" as his cheeks flushed red.  
He wondered where Blaine had gone to forget about Eli.  
He was sure that was why he'd run off, and even though he hadn't been the one to tell Eli's secret, there was a part of him that still hurt for Blaine.  
"When did I start caring?" Kurt wondered as he turned the car on the road leading to Westerville.  
"He's just been really stressed out lately," Rachel murmured as they drove. "I do need to call his mom, though. Hopefully she hasn't left the bank yet."  
Kurt nodded. He sped up as they got on the interstate, hoping to get Rachel home in time to notify her parents that Blaine was missing, and to avoid any further awkwardness between them.  
He absentmindedly turned on the radio and was pleasantly surprised to hear one of his favorite, currently popular songs playing softly on WEGE.  
"Very superstitious, wash your face and hands.  
Rid me of the problem, do all that you can.  
Keep me in a daydream, keep me goin strong.  
You don't want to save me, sad is my song."

"Oh I love this!" Rachel squealed, reaching for the button to turn up the volume.  
Kurt gave her an annoyed glance, but smiled despite himself. It seemed that at least with music, they had similar tastes.  
The drive to the Anderson-Berry home wasn't so bad, he had to admit, as they mostly agreed on the songs playing and spent the time listening with the windows down, the early autumn breeze coursing through their hair. Kurt was more annoyed than Rachel at having his careful hairdo disentangled and she found this very comical, for some reason. They shared a few chuckles as Kurt attempted to maneuver the car with one-hand through after-school traffic on the 45 and fix the limp strands that had fallen over his forehead with a comb he kept in his coat pocket.  
"You're going to get us killed," Rachel shrieked between giggles as she held the steering wheel steady when a Dairy truck lumbered by and made the car wobble. "Just forget the hair!"  
"Easy for you to say," Kurt scoffed. "You don't spend fifteen minutes every morning sculpting a perfect coif."  
Rachel rolled her chocolate eyes. "You're just like Blaine. He's so self-conscious about his curls, it's ridiculous. Maybe it's a gay thing."  
Kurt shot her a dirty look and her cheeks flushed red.  
"I-I didn't mean that," she hurried to say. "It's just-"  
"Never mind," Kurt cut in.  
"Okay."  
They drove in silence for several minutes until Rachel pointed out their exit.  
"I remember," Kurt said shortly, pulling the car off the freeway and onto a feeder road heading for Sterling Ridge.  
"How long has it been since you've been to our house?" Rachel asked curiously, her voice unexpectedly gentle.  
Kurt, however, responded in the same flat tone he used before. "A long time ago but I still remember the way."  
Rachel nodded and didn't say anything as they entered her neighborhood.

"Thanks for the ride," Rachel told Kurt as she climbed out of the Dodge when he pulled up to her house.  
"Don't mention it," Kurt replied, gripping the steering wheel tensely as he waited for her to close the passenger door.  
But she hesitated, gripping the handle of her bag as she avoided his gaze. "Do you…um, do you want to come inside and have a snack?"  
Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Got anything besides vegan food?"  
A small smirk pulled at the corners of Rachel's mouth. "I bet I can scrounge something up. Bianca does have a sweet tooth, after all."  
Thinking that he'd probably regret doing so, Kurt turned off the ignition and followed Rachel into the house.

They were sipping pink lemonade and idly watching Bewitched when Blaine's mom arrived home from the bank where she worked.  
"Hi, Mrs. Anderson-Berry," Kurt greeted the smartly dressed, dark-haired lady as she crossed the foyer to the living room. She set her briefcase down on the coffee table.  
"Oh, hello, Kurt," she smiled warmly at him before addressing Rachel with worry in her voice. "Blaine still isn't back?"  
Rachel, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa next to Kurt, holding the remote control primly in her lap, shook her head without taking her eyes off the television. "Nope. I'm really ticked off."  
Bianca sighed. "What has gotten into him?"  
She took off her coat and went directly to the phone hanging off the kitchen wall.  
"I've already called Dad," Rachel offered, almost as an after-thought. "He said he's still at work and will be leaving in half an hour."  
"What about Eli?" Bianca asked, getting ready to dial a number. "Did Blaine stop at his house, do you think?"  
"No, Blaine's not with Eli," Rachel replied reluctantly, her casual tone dropping slightly.  
Kurt avoided her gaze.  
"Did you already call him?"  
"No, but I know he's not with him."  
Bianca put down the phone and turned to look over the sofa at Rachel. "Rachel, did something happen? Why would Blaine leave without you?"  
Both Rachel and Kurt hunched their shoulders, embarrassed.

"Hey sweetheart, want another?" the flirty bartender propositioned Blaine as he set a second glass of vodka in front of the boy whose hazel eyes looked tragically around Blazers on North High Street.  
Blaine had wanted to get as far from his school, his town and Eli as he could without getting lost, so he'd wound up at one of the gay bars he last frequented in Columbus. Now he was perched on a stool, trying to lose himself in cheap vodka and disco music.  
"Thanks," Blaine mumbled, grabbing the glass in front of him. He swung back the burning alcohol and set his empty glass down with the confident thump of a practiced drinker.  
"So," the bartender leaned over the glossy countertop, fixing his blue eyes on Blaine. "My break's coming up. Do you want to dance?"  
Blaine stared at him for a moment. He didn't look like Eli and that was a comfort. This boy was two or three years older, broad-shouldered although not as athletic-looking as his ex, a bit leaner with a sort of flamboyant manner in the way he tossed his head.  
Blaine smiled more genuinely. "Sure."  
_"It might be fun,_" he thought. _"To get lost in someone else."_

A few minutes later, Blaine was side-stepping to some weird song with the young bartender and then he was gone and Blaine was dancing with another boy; a darker-skinned boy who might have been Hispanic with penny-tinted eyes and rosy lips.  
He pecked Blaine on the cheek after their dance and asked if he wanted another drink.  
"Ye-" Blaine started to say but cut himself off when he felt a stirring in his stomach. "I mean, no. I... I think I'm sick."  
He turned his back to the boy and glanced around the crowded club for a restroom.  
"Are you okay?" the Hispanic boy asked from behind Blaine, but he found it difficult to answer as the space, filled with people in multi-colored hair and clothing, suddenly got dizzying.  
"I'm-"  
The boy watched as Blaine rushed to a door across from them. He attempted to push it open but didn't succeed before bending over and puking against the wall.  
"Oh!" the unknown boy ran to Blaine's side and pressed a warm hand against his spine. "Hold on, baby. Let's get you cleaned up."  
Blaine coughed and wiped at his mouth as he straightened up. "Thanks but I should go ho-ugh!"  
The boy stepped back as Blaine vomited again and several people nearby turned to look.  
"Crap," the boy muttered. "Come here, sweetie."

Rachel sprang to her feet when the phone rang.  
Bianca was pacing the living room and driving her crazy.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi, um, is this Blaine Anderson's house?"  
"Yes," Rachel said tightly, nervous all of a sudden. "I'm his sister. Where is he?"  
Bianca stopped pacing and Leroy, who was sitting on the couch, turned his body so that he was facing the kitchen where Rachel stood, holding the phone to her ear.  
"Okay, we'll come and get him. Please take him somewhere safe like a diner or a store or something."  
After a pause, Rachel said, "Okay" and hung up.  
"Well?" Bianca asked anxiously. "Where is he?"  
Rachel could see she was close to tears but she answered her stepmother calmly. "Blaine's at some bar on High Street. This boy he was with said he got sick."  
"How sick?" Leroy inquired as Bianca covered her mouth with one hand.  
But Rachel shrugged. "He didn't say, but knowing Blaine, I'd bet it's just puking. He does that a lot when he's drunk."  
Bianca gave Rachel a hard look. "Where is he now?"  
"The guy said he's taking him to the 7 Eleven across the street."  
"Let's go," Leroy muttered, grabbing his keys from the coffee table and pulling a frantic Bianca by the hand as Rachel followed them to the door.

"Blaine, how could you be so irresponsible?" Bianca shrieked with tears in her eyes.  
Blaine had been picked up outside of a 7 Eleven convenience store around the corner from the club and he was now sitting in the backseat of Leroy's Mercedes with his face pressed to the window's cool glass. Rachel sat beside him quietly, trying not to make him feel worse by staring at the slightly green look on his face.  
"Do you know how worried I was?" Bianca continued from the front seat next to Leroy. "I thought something had happened-" her voice caught before she admitted, "I thought someone had hurt you."  
"I'm sorry, Mom," Blaine mumbled, his voice almost dead.  
"Oh you'll be sorry, alright-"  
"Bianca," Leroy interrupted gently. "Let's get home and make sure Blaine's taken care of before we start punishing him."  
With a stiff nod, Bianca settled back in her seat. Blaine continued staring out the window at the passing buildings as they turned towards the freeway.

"Blaine?"  
Groggily, Blaine opened his eyes as Rachel set a glass of water on his bedside table and held out her hand, showing the two white pills in her palm. "Mom said to take this aspirin. You don't have to go to school tomorrow, but you're still grounded this weekend."  
Blaine grunted and took the pills, downing them quickly when Rachel offered the water. "Thanks," he mumbled.  
"No prob, bro," Rachel smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed. She ran a hand through Blaine's messy, sweaty curls.  
"So you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm guessing this has to do with Eli?"  
Blaine's expression didn't change as he laid his head back on the pillow. He still looked dead. "He broke up with me; said he couldn't do it anymore."  
Rachel bit her lip. "His parents-"  
"He's just tired, Rachel," Blaine said in a voice that made him sound defeated. "He's tired of me, of their snooping, of everything. It's not really his fault."  
Rachel frowned as Blaine closed his eyes.  
"But it's not your fault either."  
Blaine pretended not to hear.


End file.
